Pfizer Says Nigeria Case Reopened in U.S.

Pfizer Inc. said an appeals court has reopened a case that accuses the world’s largest drug maker of inadequately warning Nigerian families about the risks of meningitis drug Trovan during a clinical trial.

Pfizer had tested the antibiotic on children during a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria seven years ago.

The case, brought by Nigerian families, charges that Pfizer did not sufficiently explain to the children’s parents that the treatment was experimental, that the parents could decline to accept the treatment or that other medicines were available.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan had dismissed the case, ruling U.S. courts were not the appropriate place for it. But judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit last week revived the case and remanded it to the district court.

Pfizer denies the allegations.