Date: 2/26/2009
By EDWARD HARRIS
Associated Press Writer
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A lawyer representing Nigeria in multi-billion dollar lawsuits against Pfizer said Thursday that a settlement is close in the cases stemming from the pharmaceutical giant’s 1996 drug trial.
Nigerian authorities allege that Pfizer conducted illegal meningitis-drug experiments, resulting in deaths, brain damage, paralysis and slurred speech in many of the children involved in the 1996 study. Pfizer denies the charge and says its scientists acted lawfully and in keeping with professional standards.
Babatunde Irukera, the lawyer representing Nigeria, told The Associated Press that he was not at liberty to disclose the terms of any settlement. He said a deal could be announced within hours, although it would likely take several more days since Pfizer had yet to give the government any formal notification of a decision.
“It looks like we’re on the verge of an agreement. I have reason to believe that we’re very close,” said the lawyer, who is representing the Nigerian federal government.
Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder said the settlement process was continuing and that the company was willing to stay at the negotiating table until an agreement was reached.
“We continue to be interested in an amicable settlement that would help improve and expand health care for the people of Nigeria,” he told the AP in an e-mailed statement.
A case launched by Nigeria’s federal government is seeking $7 billion in damages, while a separate case stemming from the same study, brought by Kano state where the study took place, seeks $2 billion. Pfizer officials from the time of the study have also been subjected to criminal charges in Nigeria.
Irukera said any settlement would cover all parties to cases against Pfizer in Nigeria, and that negotiations were being led by former Nigerian military ruler Yakubu Gowon.
Last month, a New York-based court ruled that Nigerian families can sue Pfizer in U.S. courts, overturning rulings by a lower court judge who had tossed out the lawsuits in litigation that began in 2001. It was unclear if any settlement reached in Nigeria would include that legal challenge.
Pfizer treated 100 meningitis-infected children with an experimental antibiotic called Trovan. Another 100 children, who were control patients in the study, received an approved antibiotic, ceftriaxone — but the dose was lower than recommended, the family attorneys allege.
As many as 11 children in the study died, while others suffered physical disabilities and brain damage. Pfizer has insisted its records show that none of the deaths was linked to Trovan or substandard treatment, noting that the study showed a better survival rate for the patients on Trovan than those on the standard drug, and that mental damage and other serious disabilities are known aftereffects of meningitis.
Authorities in Kano state have blamed the Pfizer affair for widespread suspicion of government public health policies and for helping fuel a drive by local Islamic leaders who briefly halted polio vaccination efforts in northern Nigeria.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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