PFIZER’S CEO RESIGNATION RELATED TO FOREIGN BRIBES IN NIGERIA?

Pfizer Inc’s CEO Jeffrey Kindler’s sudden resignation on Deb 8 came as two new developments relating to Pfizer have drawn the attention of federal officials: an ingoing Foreign Corrupt Pratices Act probe and a Wikileaks report that suggests “unusual” activities in Nigeria. According to a leaked U.S. embassy cable, Pfizer hired investigators to find evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general to persuade him to drop legal action over a controversial drug trial involving children with meningitis. That trial took place during the meningitis epidemic in 1996. Pfizer has denied any wrongdoing but did settle claims with the local government in Nigeria for $75 million. It was also sued for $6 billion by Nigerian federal authorities who claimed the children were harmed by the new antibiotic. The Guardian newspaper, quoting the leaked cables said that Pfizer was slowly leaking damaging information about arrotney general Michael Aondoakaa to put pressure on him to drop the federal cases. Nigeria dropped for the civil and criminal claims in Oct 2009. The story gets even more suspicious amidst some assertions that the attorney general may have sought bribes from Pfizer to drop the cases. He has denied this. Pfizer denies bribes but the company did say it agreed to pay legal fees and expenses incurred by the fedral government and that it was made to counsel of record but it did not say how much.