Aug 30, 2021
Pfizer Inc. was sued yesterday on behalf of 30 Nigerian families who contend that the world’s largest drugmaker violated international law during a 1996 meningitis epidemic by experimenting on children without their knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, alleges that the children were used as human guinea pigs during clinical trials of a Pfizer antibiotic known as Trovan. The families of at least six children who died during or shortly after the experiment are among those suing, according to their attorney, Elaine Kusel.
The families contend that Pfizer violated the Nuremberg Code, U.N. human rights standards and other ethical guidelines. They allege that Pfizer exposed the children to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”