PFIZER VICTIMS ABANDONED

Gone but not settled yet
NEXT editorial
November 29, 2010

The settlement of the Trovan trials case brought by the Nigerian plaintiffs against the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has all the elements of a deal or no deal contest, at least on this side of the Atlantic. In this famous game show where contestants have to choose between a set of 26 identical briefcases holding anything from $.10 to $1million, Nigerians deserve to know the exact contents of the ones collected on their behalf by their "representatives" in the Kano State government.
The settlement of the case brought by the plaintiffs represented something of an achievement for Nigeria in the David and Goliath, Third World versus Multinational giant category if you could ignore the searing tragedy that led to it, both on the side of a rapacious multinational and the dubious tactics of Nigerian officials who signed first and asked questions later.
The real victims were the 30 families whose offspring were killed, maimed and paralysed by the drug Trovan that had never been administered to children. Pfizer hit on its idea to try it out in the midst of a raging meningitis outbreak in Kano in August of 1996 that led to 12,000 deaths in the country. The US Federal Drug Administration approved Trovan in 1998, two years later, for use on adults.
In May of 2006 a confidential report published by the Washington Post found that Pfizer had violated Nigerian and international law in its trials on 200 children in Kano in 1996. This finding led to criminal charges brought against Pfizer by the Federal government in 2007, which sued for $ 6 billion in damages.
But the issue here is not Pfizer, which argued in its defence that it had obtained approval from Nigerian officials to conduct the trial.
The Nigerian government system has been described as a kleptocracy and the handling of the details of the settlement of this Pfizer case look to be following that pattern.
Based on the broad terms of the settlement Pfizer is to pay $30 million disbursed over two years on heath care initiatives chosen by Kano State. Pfizer will pay $10 million towards the Kano State governments legal fees and $30 or $35 million, there is some discrepancy here, will be used to set up a fund for valid claims from eligible victims who were part of the trial. A six-person panel established by Kano State and Pfizer will determine the eligibility of the victims and the level of compensation.
In return Kano State will drop civil and criminal claims against Pfizer. Last year a statement in the Washington Post credited to Babatunde Irukera in who represented Kano State when the settlement was announced in August of 2009 said the Federal government's case against the company was not affected by this settlement But this paper has reported that an agreement brokered by former Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa has led to the withdrawal of the Federal governments $6 billion suit also. "People and entities can and must be held accountable for the consequences of their conduct," Mr Irukera was quoted as saying.
That same accountability we would say requires the Kano State government to be open and scrupulously detailed as it disburses the funds for the victims and for the healthcare projects, even before we begin to ponder the possible subterranean terms of the agreement brokered on Aondoakaa's behalf by a team of lawyers.
The issue here from the start was justice, on behalf of 200 sick children who were used as fodder for illegal clinical tests, not lawyers and their fees, government officials and secret ‘settlements' or a pharmaceutical giant anxious to ward off any bad publicity.
Full disclosure and transparent monitoring is what justice demands for the souls of the 11 children who died, and the rest who were paralysed or brain damaged by the administration of the experimental drug Trovan.
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Posted by Truck Pusher on Nov 29 2010
part of the settlement agreement stated that the contents of the agreement would not be made public...how do i know?...because that is standard judicial fare...
Posted by hC on Nov 29 2010
Truck Pusher forgot to add, "but as usual, nobody asked me". Kleptocracy is a very appropriate adjective.
Posted by Ajegunle on Nov 29 2010
It is not the duty of the government to sue Pfizer, the government should have aided the affected persons in fighting Pfizer. I am sure, each one of them will entitled to about $100m each, plus fines. Then the government can then sue and get money. Like I said before, these victims have been sold to butchers. I smell dollars here, EFCC should probe Kano and Federal Government officials, money has changed hand.
Posted by Louisiana Ibeh on Nov 29 2010
Nothing can be more baffling in the way we nigerians handle issues, especially serious ones that could upgrade our social and political and environmental status internationally. I think we need to make choicest decisions that would not only benefit ourselves but the other close and far. we are one and we need to act as one not necessarily the majority. Justice should prevail and not the "Millions of Dollars".