A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, said it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain a suit filed by 192 people who claimed to be victims of a drug test carried out by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company in Kano in 1996.
The court said that the proper place to hear the matter is the Kano State High Court. The plaintiffs had asked for the sum $384 billion as damages for the negative effects of the Trovan drug test administered on them by Pfizer, which allegedly claimed the lives of some of their children while deforming others.
Pfizer, through its counsel, Anthony Idigbe SAN, objected to the jurisdiction of the court on the grounds that the clinical trial took place in Kano; and that the proper court to entertain the matter was the Kano State High Court. But Etigwe Uwa, counsel to the 192 victims, argued that the case was based on the enforcement of the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs, and so the high court had the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, after studying the plaintiffs' relief, upheld Pfizer's arguments. He said that he did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the suit as constituted. "The drug test which resulted in this case took place in Kano," he said. "The plaintiffs who claimed they were victims of the test are all from Kano. The Attorney General of Kano State is also a party. In my view, the proper venue to file this case is the Kano State High Court."
The judge also contested the plaintiff's claim that the test had violated their constitutional rights. "The plaintiffs were not compelled by any government agency to agree to the test," he said. "Though Pfizer may not have exercised due diligence in carrying out the test and that is why it agreed to pay damages, nevertheless, this case remains an action in negligence for which the Federal High Court does not have the jurisdiction to entertain. This case is not about poison or drugs as claimed by the plaintiffs' lawyer."
Justice Kolawole also upheld the argument of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), who was represented by Olufunke Aboyade, that it should not have been made a party in the lawsuit. Ms. Aboyade had argued that the AGF had nothing to do with the drug test which resulted in the dispute.
However, the judge said that an order which he made on June 29 to protect the fund set aside by Pfizer to compensate legitimate victims should remain in effect until set aside by the Kano State High Court. Meanwhile there have been strident cries by the other group of Trovan patients who participated in the recent DNA testing to determine genuine claimants. They want their compensation money paid immediately they are verified as genuine. They insist that the injunction clamped on the meningitis board by the Federal High Court is punitive on innocent souls who are not involved in the current litigation.
All eyes are now on Kano to see which way the pendulum of justice would swing.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Trovan Vaccine Suit Suffers Setback
NEWS
The suit filed by the victims of the 1996 Trovan vaccine test in Kano at the Federal High Court in Abuja has suffered a set a back as the court set aside the service of the court’s processes on Pfizer Specialties. Justice Gabriel Kolawole set aside the processes following an objection by Pfizer Specialties’ counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN challenging the proprietary of the service.
In setting aside the processes, Justice Kolawole said that the service was crucial to adjudication in any case.He however refused a similar application to set aside the service of the process on the Kano State Government.
Following agreement by Pfizer to compensate the victims of the vaccine test, more people who claimed to be victims of the 1996 Pfizer meningitis Trovan vaccine test in Kano had filed fresh suits against the pharmaceutical company asking for $384 billion. The victims, about 192, said they wanted $384 as damages they suffered from the negative effect of the vaccines administered on them.
It will be recalled that Pfizer recorded a survival rate of about 94 percent during the Trovan trials which compared favorably with the record obtained by Doctors Without Borders during the same meningitis epidemic.
Joined as defendants in the suit filed by Etigwe Uwa (SAN) on behalf of the plaintiffs are the Health Care/ meningitis Trust Fund; Kano State Government; Pfizer Incorporated; Pfizer Specialties Ltd; David Odiwo, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The 192 plaintiffs are challenging the proposal by the defendants to conduct a DNA test to determine the real victims of the Trovan vaccine following a sudden increase in the number of those claiming to be victims. The plaintiffs hinged their opposition to the DNA test on the fact that the company could not be trusted with their DNA.
However, hearing of the case by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja was stalled by the claims of Pfizer Specialties and Kano State Government that they were not properly served with the court processes.
While Pfizer Specialties claimed that the court papers were served on Pfizer Incorporated in New York, Kano State claimed that the documents served on it bore FCT High Court letter head papers instead of the Federal High Court.
The two defendants though represented by lawyers claimed that they were not properly served and that the court should order a proper service on them. Plaintiffs counsel Etigwe Uwa faulted the claims of the two defendants and urged the court to disregard the claims.
Justice Kolawole has adjourned further ruling on other interim applications pending before the cost to Tuesday 27th July, 2010.
The suit filed by the victims of the 1996 Trovan vaccine test in Kano at the Federal High Court in Abuja has suffered a set a back as the court set aside the service of the court’s processes on Pfizer Specialties. Justice Gabriel Kolawole set aside the processes following an objection by Pfizer Specialties’ counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN challenging the proprietary of the service.
In setting aside the processes, Justice Kolawole said that the service was crucial to adjudication in any case.He however refused a similar application to set aside the service of the process on the Kano State Government.
Following agreement by Pfizer to compensate the victims of the vaccine test, more people who claimed to be victims of the 1996 Pfizer meningitis Trovan vaccine test in Kano had filed fresh suits against the pharmaceutical company asking for $384 billion. The victims, about 192, said they wanted $384 as damages they suffered from the negative effect of the vaccines administered on them.
It will be recalled that Pfizer recorded a survival rate of about 94 percent during the Trovan trials which compared favorably with the record obtained by Doctors Without Borders during the same meningitis epidemic.
Joined as defendants in the suit filed by Etigwe Uwa (SAN) on behalf of the plaintiffs are the Health Care/ meningitis Trust Fund; Kano State Government; Pfizer Incorporated; Pfizer Specialties Ltd; David Odiwo, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The 192 plaintiffs are challenging the proposal by the defendants to conduct a DNA test to determine the real victims of the Trovan vaccine following a sudden increase in the number of those claiming to be victims. The plaintiffs hinged their opposition to the DNA test on the fact that the company could not be trusted with their DNA.
However, hearing of the case by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja was stalled by the claims of Pfizer Specialties and Kano State Government that they were not properly served with the court processes.
While Pfizer Specialties claimed that the court papers were served on Pfizer Incorporated in New York, Kano State claimed that the documents served on it bore FCT High Court letter head papers instead of the Federal High Court.
The two defendants though represented by lawyers claimed that they were not properly served and that the court should order a proper service on them. Plaintiffs counsel Etigwe Uwa faulted the claims of the two defendants and urged the court to disregard the claims.
Justice Kolawole has adjourned further ruling on other interim applications pending before the cost to Tuesday 27th July, 2010.
Monday, July 19, 2010
DNA stoppage: Shooting ourselves in the foot
By
Shehu M. Dikwa
The recent ruling by an Abuja High Court temporarily stopping the release of results of DNA tests conducted on Trovan test claimants gives cause for worry. Before the ruling, it had been the hope of all those who subjected themselves to the test that the results would be announced within eight weeks and those verified as genuine Trovan participants would be compensated by the Board of Trustees saddled with the task. Now, the problem is not the Board but the so-called Trovan Victims Forum led by Alhaji Mustapha Maisikeli. The TVF boss had gone to court to seek an injunction stopping the DNA tests. He was told on the first day to put all the parties on notice. When the case came up on 29th June, the collection of DNA samples had been completed in respect of over 300 claimants. Only the Maisikeli group refused to submit themselves to the test. One of their primary claims was that they could not trust the outcome of the tests, even suggesting that the universally acclaimed Bode Laboratories contracted to do the tests was ill-qualified to handle the exercise.
Although on the surface it looks as if the recent court ruling is a slap on the face of the Trovan/Meningitis Trust Board, the real victims of the ruling are the genuine ones among the claimants. Those who truly participated in the 1996 Trovan tests carried out by Pfizer in the heat of the meningitis epidemic in Kano in 1996 are the real losers, even if temporarily. The winners, if they can be so described, are all those who were scared of the DNA tests on account of the fact that they never participated in the Trovan trials in the first place.
Imagine that over 600 people applied for compensation whereas only 200 participants went through the Trovan trials. Where did the over 400 other ghosts come from? To forestall that kind of situation, the settlement agreement stipulated that claimants would have to be verified through DNA tests. If a particular participant was deceased for example, his blood relation could make claims because DNA would establish that relationship. Many watchers of the Trovan drama were actually happy with the fact that claimants would be scientifically screened. But not so the TVF which has from the onset opposed any scheme aimed at establishing the veracity or otherwise of claims.
It is difficult to understand how a person who is sure that he actually participated in an exercise would be reluctant to subscribe to a scheme meant to establish the truth of his claim. One does not need the gift of prophesy to know that the reasons behind the fear of DNA are less than altruistic. Many commentators within the last one year have suggested that the TVF is an association of carpetbaggers who are intent on simply benefitting from the settlement funds without being Trovan participants. The leader of the group Maisikeli himself claims to have lost two children during the meningitis epidemic but would not agree to DNA verification to prove his claimed consanguineous relationship with the allegedly deceased participants.
Many of us don’t like how these unseemly developments have rubbed off in an ugly manner on our national image. If this is not an orchestrated 419 attempt, what then is? Some of our disreputable countrymen have been giving the country a bad image on account of their fraudulent activities globally. So pervasive is their reach that our people are viewed with suspicion everywhere in the world as if we are all criminals. There is no country in the world without its own quota of criminals and many of us have always pointed this out to those who try to misbrand our country as a den of thieves.
Having said this, I don’t know what to say to a situation where somebody says he does not want to be scientifically verified, yet he wants to claim money meant for those who participated in a scientific exercise. We all know that even in the case of paternity dispute, the best way to find out the truth is via DNA test. Knowing this country as I do, and knowing the dramatis personae as I do, I am convinced that the TVF strategy is based on blackmail and shakedown. The issue has even gone beyond Pfizer, the global pharmaceutical giants who carried out the Trovan trials.
For a couple of months the TVF unleashed media terror on the respected members of the Board of Trustees. The Chairman, Justice Wali was singled out for the greatest attack. Board members were accused of feeding fat on monies meant for the Trovan claimants. But this was found to be false as records indicated that the compensation funds would not be released to the Board until the DNA results are out – and even then, only the Board will determine who to benefit from the funds and by how much, based on the set of criteria already agreed upon, including the results of DNA testing.
It is quite strange that a settlement agreement entered into between the Kano State Government, Pfizer and the Trovan participants is now being called into question on the eve of DNA results being released and compensation money being paid. The details of the settlement were even shared with the traditional authorities in Kano before they implementation began. I recall that the respected Emir of Kano lent his voice to the need for DNA tests to be done in order to establish the genuineness of claimants. Is TVF saying the Emir does not have the people’s interest at heart?
It is quite saddening that the Abuja High Court decided to grant the injunction requested by Maisikeli and his TVF to suspend the release of DNA results. One wonders on what leg TVF is standing since they were not participants in the DNA testing from which they withdrew voluntarily. My reasoning is this: If you refuse to participate in a football match while others agree to go to the pitch to play, can you now go to court to insist that the result of the match should not be released?
It is also interesting that whereas the Trovan tests were carried out in Kano, the TVF travelled all the way to Abuja to file their case. What are they running away from in Kano? Are they scared that the real, genuine, authentic participants would mob them for attempting to scuttle their compensation payment?
The real interpretation of delaying compensation payment by even one single day is that the misery of the poor genuine claimants will be extended at the whims of some greedy schemers. Many of us in civil society groups have publicly advocated for a speeding up of the compensation process. We have gone on record as calling on the Meningitis Board to expedite action on their verification exercise and start paying compensation to give succor to the affected families. We didn’t reckon that anyone in his right senses would be intent on stalling the compensation process.
It is clear that we are our own enemies. When it is convenient we blame foreigners for our woes. Now we can’t possibly blame any foreigner because all the dramatis personae in the latest development are all Nigerians – Maisikeli, Meningitis Board, the patients, the judge and the civil society groups. The TVF is not suffering anything. Neither is the Board (apart from the image of their members which TVF tried to soil). The real victims in this saga are the authentic Trovan participants whose genuineness would have been established by the result of the DNA test and who would have smiled to the bank after collecting their compensation cheques. To prevent an economically marginalized people from accessing compensation funds that would ameliorate their despondent situation is criminal and, if I may speak from the religious angle, it is a sin.
(Shehu M. Dikwa, a public affairs commentator, lives in Kano)
Shehu M. Dikwa
The recent ruling by an Abuja High Court temporarily stopping the release of results of DNA tests conducted on Trovan test claimants gives cause for worry. Before the ruling, it had been the hope of all those who subjected themselves to the test that the results would be announced within eight weeks and those verified as genuine Trovan participants would be compensated by the Board of Trustees saddled with the task. Now, the problem is not the Board but the so-called Trovan Victims Forum led by Alhaji Mustapha Maisikeli. The TVF boss had gone to court to seek an injunction stopping the DNA tests. He was told on the first day to put all the parties on notice. When the case came up on 29th June, the collection of DNA samples had been completed in respect of over 300 claimants. Only the Maisikeli group refused to submit themselves to the test. One of their primary claims was that they could not trust the outcome of the tests, even suggesting that the universally acclaimed Bode Laboratories contracted to do the tests was ill-qualified to handle the exercise.
Although on the surface it looks as if the recent court ruling is a slap on the face of the Trovan/Meningitis Trust Board, the real victims of the ruling are the genuine ones among the claimants. Those who truly participated in the 1996 Trovan tests carried out by Pfizer in the heat of the meningitis epidemic in Kano in 1996 are the real losers, even if temporarily. The winners, if they can be so described, are all those who were scared of the DNA tests on account of the fact that they never participated in the Trovan trials in the first place.
Imagine that over 600 people applied for compensation whereas only 200 participants went through the Trovan trials. Where did the over 400 other ghosts come from? To forestall that kind of situation, the settlement agreement stipulated that claimants would have to be verified through DNA tests. If a particular participant was deceased for example, his blood relation could make claims because DNA would establish that relationship. Many watchers of the Trovan drama were actually happy with the fact that claimants would be scientifically screened. But not so the TVF which has from the onset opposed any scheme aimed at establishing the veracity or otherwise of claims.
It is difficult to understand how a person who is sure that he actually participated in an exercise would be reluctant to subscribe to a scheme meant to establish the truth of his claim. One does not need the gift of prophesy to know that the reasons behind the fear of DNA are less than altruistic. Many commentators within the last one year have suggested that the TVF is an association of carpetbaggers who are intent on simply benefitting from the settlement funds without being Trovan participants. The leader of the group Maisikeli himself claims to have lost two children during the meningitis epidemic but would not agree to DNA verification to prove his claimed consanguineous relationship with the allegedly deceased participants.
Many of us don’t like how these unseemly developments have rubbed off in an ugly manner on our national image. If this is not an orchestrated 419 attempt, what then is? Some of our disreputable countrymen have been giving the country a bad image on account of their fraudulent activities globally. So pervasive is their reach that our people are viewed with suspicion everywhere in the world as if we are all criminals. There is no country in the world without its own quota of criminals and many of us have always pointed this out to those who try to misbrand our country as a den of thieves.
Having said this, I don’t know what to say to a situation where somebody says he does not want to be scientifically verified, yet he wants to claim money meant for those who participated in a scientific exercise. We all know that even in the case of paternity dispute, the best way to find out the truth is via DNA test. Knowing this country as I do, and knowing the dramatis personae as I do, I am convinced that the TVF strategy is based on blackmail and shakedown. The issue has even gone beyond Pfizer, the global pharmaceutical giants who carried out the Trovan trials.
For a couple of months the TVF unleashed media terror on the respected members of the Board of Trustees. The Chairman, Justice Wali was singled out for the greatest attack. Board members were accused of feeding fat on monies meant for the Trovan claimants. But this was found to be false as records indicated that the compensation funds would not be released to the Board until the DNA results are out – and even then, only the Board will determine who to benefit from the funds and by how much, based on the set of criteria already agreed upon, including the results of DNA testing.
It is quite strange that a settlement agreement entered into between the Kano State Government, Pfizer and the Trovan participants is now being called into question on the eve of DNA results being released and compensation money being paid. The details of the settlement were even shared with the traditional authorities in Kano before they implementation began. I recall that the respected Emir of Kano lent his voice to the need for DNA tests to be done in order to establish the genuineness of claimants. Is TVF saying the Emir does not have the people’s interest at heart?
It is quite saddening that the Abuja High Court decided to grant the injunction requested by Maisikeli and his TVF to suspend the release of DNA results. One wonders on what leg TVF is standing since they were not participants in the DNA testing from which they withdrew voluntarily. My reasoning is this: If you refuse to participate in a football match while others agree to go to the pitch to play, can you now go to court to insist that the result of the match should not be released?
It is also interesting that whereas the Trovan tests were carried out in Kano, the TVF travelled all the way to Abuja to file their case. What are they running away from in Kano? Are they scared that the real, genuine, authentic participants would mob them for attempting to scuttle their compensation payment?
The real interpretation of delaying compensation payment by even one single day is that the misery of the poor genuine claimants will be extended at the whims of some greedy schemers. Many of us in civil society groups have publicly advocated for a speeding up of the compensation process. We have gone on record as calling on the Meningitis Board to expedite action on their verification exercise and start paying compensation to give succor to the affected families. We didn’t reckon that anyone in his right senses would be intent on stalling the compensation process.
It is clear that we are our own enemies. When it is convenient we blame foreigners for our woes. Now we can’t possibly blame any foreigner because all the dramatis personae in the latest development are all Nigerians – Maisikeli, Meningitis Board, the patients, the judge and the civil society groups. The TVF is not suffering anything. Neither is the Board (apart from the image of their members which TVF tried to soil). The real victims in this saga are the authentic Trovan participants whose genuineness would have been established by the result of the DNA test and who would have smiled to the bank after collecting their compensation cheques. To prevent an economically marginalized people from accessing compensation funds that would ameliorate their despondent situation is criminal and, if I may speak from the religious angle, it is a sin.
(Shehu M. Dikwa, a public affairs commentator, lives in Kano)
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