Nigerians Can Sue US Drug Firms - BBC
January 30, 2009 10:36pm ET
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The BBC reported Friday that a U.S. court ruled Nigerian families can sue the Pfizer (PFE) drugs giant in the U.S. over its alleged role in the deaths of children.
The decision overturns ruling by a lower court that the case must be heard in Nigeria.
Pfizer is accused of killing 11 children and injuring 181 others when an antibiotic was tested on them during a meningitis epidemic in 1996. Pfizer denied the claims, saying they were victims of the outbreak, the BBC reported on its Web site.
The epidemic killed 12,000 children in Nigerian in six months.
Their original lawsuit had been dismissed on the grounds that it could not be pursued under the Alien Tort Statute, an old law allowing foreigners to sue in the US courts, the BBC said. But the Second Curcuit US Court of Appeals in New York ruled that the statute could be used.
-Web Site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7862251.stm
January 30, 2009 10:36pm ET
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The BBC reported Friday that a U.S. court ruled Nigerian families can sue the Pfizer (PFE) drugs giant in the U.S. over its alleged role in the deaths of children.
The decision overturns ruling by a lower court that the case must be heard in Nigeria.
Pfizer is accused of killing 11 children and injuring 181 others when an antibiotic was tested on them during a meningitis epidemic in 1996. Pfizer denied the claims, saying they were victims of the outbreak, the BBC reported on its Web site.
The epidemic killed 12,000 children in Nigerian in six months.
Their original lawsuit had been dismissed on the grounds that it could not be pursued under the Alien Tort Statute, an old law allowing foreigners to sue in the US courts, the BBC said. But the Second Curcuit US Court of Appeals in New York ruled that the statute could be used.
-Web Site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7862251.stm