Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19207

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Silverman E
Pfizer Reaches Deal To Resolve All Trovan Litigation
Pharmalot 2011 Feb 22
http://www.pharmalot.com/2011/02/pfizer-reaches-deal-to-resolve-all-trovan-litigation/

Full text:

Nearly 15 years after a clinical trial of its Trovan antibiotic caused a scandal in Nigeria, Pfizer has reached a global settlement that resolves all lawsuits filed both there and in the United States. Terms, however, were not disclosed. The agreement follows another reached in July 2009 with the Kano state government in Nigeria in which Pfizer agreed to pay $75 million to settle civil and criminal charges.
The latest settlement comes seven months after the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the drugmaker, which sought to overturn a ruling that reinstated lawsuits filed by Nigerian families. They claimed Pfizer tested Trovan on their children without getting adequate consent and cited the Alien Tort Statute, which has been used to claim US companies committed eggregious behavior overseas (look here).
The global deal calls for the plaintiffs to join an existing trust fund process that requires claimants to undergo DNA testing before payouts are made, an issue that recently sparked a separate lawsuit filing by some families who expressed suspicion the results may be deliberately switched in order to reduce compensation claims (back story). However, a Pfizer spokesman says this has also been resolved.
The dispute centers on the 1996 Trovan trial that was conducted on about 200 children during a meningitis epidemic that killed 12,000 children, while allegedly leaving 11 children dead and others wit deformities. Pfizer was accused of failing to obtain proper regulatory approval and misleading parents, but has denied all charges.
“The settlement of the cases pertaining to Trovan clears the way for the board to finalize its work in Nigeria to determine claimants’ eligibility. We are pleased that this agreement moves us one step closer to providing compensation to those for whom the Fund was intended. Putting an end to all litigation related to Trovan will allow Pfizer to focus all its attention on bringing health care solutions to benefit all the people of Nigeria,” Pfizer senior vp and associate general counsel Brad Lerman, says in a statement sent us (see another statement).