LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A U.S. embassy cable released by the WikiLeaks website says drug maker Pfizer Inc. hired investigators to uncover “corruption links” to Nigeria’s former attorney general to stop federal cases against it over a 1996 drug study in which 11 children died.
The cable quotes an April 9, 2009, conversation embassy staff had with Pfizer country manager Enrico Liggeri. The cable claims Liggeri said Pfizer passed gave the incriminating information to Nigerian newspapers and that it had “much more damaging information.”
In May 2009, Pfizer and Nigeria announced a $75 million settlement over the meningitis drug study. Some children allegedly suffered paralysis or slurred speech.
The British newspaper The Guardian published details of the cables Friday.
