By Joe Stephens Updated: 5:58 a.m. ET May 7, 2006

A panel of Nigerian medical experts has concluded that Pfizer Inc. violated international law during a 1996 epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children with brain infections at a field hospital.

That finding is detailed in a lengthy Nigerian government report that has remained unreleased for five years, despite inquiries from the children's attorneys and from the media. The Washington Post recently obtained a copy of the confidential report, which is attracting congressional interest. It was provided by a source who asked to remain anonymous because of personal safety concerns.

The report concludes that Pfizer never obtained authorization from the Nigerian government to give the unproven drug to nearly 100 children and infants. Pfizer selected the patients at a field hospital in the city of Kano, where the children had been taken to be treated for an often deadly strain of meningitis. At the time, Doctors Without Borders was dispensing approved antibiotics at the hospital.

Accused of ‘exploitating the ignorant’
Pfizer's experiment was "an illegal trial of an unregistered drug," the Nigerian panel concluded, and a "clear case of exploitation of the ignorant."

Nigeria Files Suit Against Pfizer By AP

(KANO, Nigeria) — Authorities in northern Nigeria have filed a $2 billion civil case and were preparing criminal charges against the US. drug company Pfizer, accusing it of conducting a drug experiment that led to deaths and disabilities in a group of children more than a decade ago, according to court papers.

A notice of intent to file criminal charges, seen Wednesday, was submitted May 9 and the civil case was filed May 17. Officials said the civil suit could open as soon Monday. It was not clear when the criminal case — to be lodged against eight Pfizer officials — would begin, officials said.