Victory for Pfizer … But DNA Participants Cry: “We Want Our Compensation Now!”

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.