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Pfizer accused of testing new drug without ethical approval

BMJ 2001; 322 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.322.7280.194 (Published 27 January 2001) Cite this as: BMJ 2001;322:194
  1. Jacqui Wise
  1. London

    An official inquiry has been set up into allegations that the drug manufacturer Pfizer did not obtain official approval before testing a new drug on children during a meningitis epidemic in Nigeria five years ago.

    The Nigerian doctor who supervised the clinical trial has said that his office backdated an approval letter and this may have been written a year after the study had taken place.

    Pfizer, whose headquarters are in New York city, has admitted that the local ethics approval given to conduct the trial may not have been properly documented: “Pfizer takes this issue very seriously and is fully cooperating with the Nigerian authorities.”

    In 1996 Pfizer sent …

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