Nigeria calls Pfizer execs to trial

Nigeria v. Pfizer in the matter of a meningitis vaccine trial went back to court today, with a judge allowing the authorities there to summon Pfizer and nine company officials to the country to defend themselves. The summons aims to compel the execs to a hearing November 6.

Civil rights groups are all set to protest against the drug maker, which is criminally and civilly accused misconduct when it tried out its Trovan treatment during a 1996 meningitis epidemic. Eleven children participating in the trial died, and others ended up with permanent injuries. Pfizer denies wrongdoing, saying it answered pleas for help when it brought the experimental drug to Nigeria.

Trovan, of course, proved a safety risk when it was licensed by the FDA a few months after the Nigerian trial. Three years later, the agency restricted the drug because of possible liver damage.

- read the article from the International Business Times
- see this item from the Wall Street Journal

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