Will this DNA gamble serve Pfizer victims?

We were outraged to hear that the first beneficiaries of the compensation paid by the American company, after years of legal tussle, were the lawyers and other government officials involved in the saga. The victims however can only get their share of it after a DNA test – to be conducted by another American company […]

We were outraged to hear that the first beneficiaries of the compensation paid by the American company, after years of legal tussle, were the lawyers and other government officials involved in the saga. The victims however can only get their share of it after a DNA test – to be conducted by another American company – has proved them to be the real victims. While agonising over what seems like the unfairness of it all, I received an interesting mail from a former colleague, Kabir Sa’idu. The article, featured on NigeriaBlogspot.com, EagleStyle.com and NYTimes.com, speaks for itself. I was prompted to share this after I saw a front page picture and an accompanying story in the Daily Trust of 6th April, announcing the beginning of the DNA testing by Bode Laboratories US. Though Alhaji Mustapha Maisikeli, the representative of the victims has told Daily Trust that he is optimistic that ‘things will go on smoothly’ it is really not certain whether this DNA test will serve them in the long run. This following report sheds light on the uncertain fate awaiting Kano Pfizer victims.

The hope of victims of the 1996 Trovan Clinical Trial in Kano conducted by Pfizer to get appropriate compensation continues to grow dim, as the multinational pharmaceutical company, with the support of some self-serving Nigerian elite, has not relented in its efforts to prolong the suffering of the mostly impoverished victims.

The multinational pharmaceutical company, which admitted to the Federal Government Trovan Investigative Panel in 2001 that it had not taken proper records of the 200 victims it admittedly used in their experiment, is now claiming that it has the DNA samples of those used as guinea pigs in the trial.

Throughout the negotiations leading up to its settlement with the Kano State government, even while appearing before the investigative panel set up by the federal government in 2001, at no time did Pfizer mention that it had taken DNA samples of those illegally recruited for its trial. Pfizer, which unfortunately, has been calling the shots throughout the negotiations, now requires victims to present their DNA samples as a mean of authenticating that they were actually subjects in the trial before any form of compensation is paid to them.

According to excerpts of what we believe is a copy of a secretive settlement agreement Pfizer reached with the Nigerian government, the company, which entered the settlement on the basis of “no admission of liability”, is asking “any person submitting a claim form to the Fund must provide a saliva sample for DNA testing purposes, and must consent and submit to a medical examination if requested.”

Improper identification

However, the victims’ lawyers have questioned Pfizer’s demand for the victims’ DNA samples. They contend that in the first place, the company didn’t even have proper identification of the trial subjects. In 1996, Pfizer, capitalizing on the support of corrupt government officials, flew in their doctors in the middle of an outbreak of a tripod of measles, cholera and cerebrospinal meningitis epidemic, to conduct an illegal clinical trial on sick infants in Kano. Apparently trying to cover up all traces of the clinical trial it was conducting in a room with newspaper-covered windows, the company did not bother to properly identify the sick children they were using as “laboratory animals”. The victims were simply identified by serial numbers and initials written on tiny pink cards.

“Let us assume that Pfizer collected the DNA samples of the victims, how are they going to link the correct DNA sample with some initials appearing more than one time?”, asked Kunle Omitimirin, a member of the victims’ legal team. “The victims were treated worse than guinea pigs”, said Mr. Ishola, a member of the victims’ legal team. “In a laboratory, guinea pigs are better identified.”

Further, throughout the negotiation leading to the settlement with the Kano State, at no time did Pfizer mention that it was in possession of DNA samples of those it used for the clinical trial. The multinational, which earns upwards of $18 billion annually, only came up with the issue of DNA tests when it was time to compensate the victims.

Legality of collecting DNA samples

Counsel to the victims have also argued that it is illegal to collect a person’s DNA samples without their consent. Pfizer, so far, has been unable to present any documentary evidence that the victims consented that samples of their DNA should be collected. Even Aliyu Umar, the attorney general of Kano State, that it was not legal to do a DNA test without the consent of the person to whom the test was being administered.

Mr. Ishola further argued that judging the short time Pfizer spent in Kano in 1996 before they hurriedly left in the middle of the epidemic, it was almost impossible for Pfizer to have completed the DNA tests of the 200 children it claimed it used in the trial.

“How are we sure that Pfizer will not provide the DNAs of Ugandans just to show the world that most of the claims were false”, said a lawyer who pleaded anonymity.

Counsel to the victims are expressing serious doubts as to the motives behind the call for DNA testing by Pfizer at this point in time. Mr. Ishola claims that his studies on clinical trials show that the DNA of the subjects is mostly required when concluding a trial. According to him, he suspects that Pfizer might be requesting for the DNA samples of the victims so as to use them to complete information already collected on the test.

Meningitis Fund Board of Trustees

The composition of a Meningitis Fund Board of Trustees has stirred up further controversy leading to the settlement. The board of trustees, which draws its funding from the Kano State government’s $30 million (N4.5 billion) share of the $75 million (N11.25 billion) compensation paid by Pfizer, comprises of Abubakar Wali, the former Supreme Court justice as chairman; Alfa Belgore, the former chief justice of Nigeria; David Odiwo as executive secretary; Muataseer Ibrahim, the vice chancellor of the Katsina State University; Isa Hashim (who has been sacked from the board by the Kano State government) and Musa Borodo.

According to the agreement reached with the Kano State government, Pfizer is required to appoint three members of the board and the Kano State government, the other three members. Counsel to the victims have argued that the composition of the board is faulty. According to them, the victims should have been represented on the board. They averred that what Pfizer and the Kano State government have done is appoint themselves as judges in a case where they are the accused. The victims’ counsel are of the position that there is no way the victims are going to get justice form this board.

It also learnt that apart from the Toyota Prado Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) given to each member of the board, they were also paid N1 million each at every sitting. According to our source, who asked not be named, the committee had sat for about 15 times at the luxurious The Prince Hotel in Kano. “Any member of the committee who has a conscience seeing the plight of the victims should have immediately resigned from the committee,” said Mr. Ishola.