WASHINGTON - Nigerian officials have brought criminal charges against Pfizer Inc. for the company's alleged role in the deaths of children who received an unapproved drug during a meningitis epidemic, according to a newspaper report.
Authorities in Kano filed eight charges this month related to the 1996 clinical trial, including counts of criminal conspiracy and voluntarily causing grievous harm. They also filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than $2 billion in damages and restitution from Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, The Washington Post said on its website Tuesday.
The government alleges Pfizer researchers selected 200 children and infants from crowds at a makeshift epidemic camp in Kano and gave about half of the group an untested antibiotic called Trovan. Researchers gave the other children what the lawsuit describes as a dangerously low dose of a comparison drug made by Hoffmann-La Roche. Nigerian officials say Pfizer's actions resulted in the deaths of an unspecified number of children and left others deaf, paralyzed, blind or brain-damaged, the newspaper said.
Pfizer said in a statement the company believes it did nothing wrong and emphasized that children with meningitis have a high fatality rate, the newspaper said.
