(This article is from 2007)

The Nigerian government is suing the world's largest drug manufacturer, Pfizer, for allegedly carrying out illegal trials of an anti-meningitis drug that killed or disabled children.

Nigeria is demanding $7bn in damages from the US company for the families of children it says died or suffered serious side effects when the antibiotic Trovan was administered in the northern state of Kano during a meningitis outbreak in 1996. The Kano state government also has civil and criminal cases pending against Pfizer.

The Nigerian authorities say that 200 children were part of the Trovan experiment without the approval of local regulatory authorities. They allege that as many as 11 died as a result of the treatment and others developed conditions including brain damage and paralysis.

Trovan was approved in the US in 1997 for use by adults but not children. Two years later the US Food and Drug Administration warned that the drug could cause liver damage and it has since been discontinued.