It is customary for drug companies to do drug trials in developing counties, especially in African countries. With the recent HIV and AIDS pandemic, some African countries have become important sites for such drug trials. The problem, however, has been that such trials appear to manifest dubious ethical standards. Such ethical would hardly be tolerated in the West.
Aside from the controversial HIV and AIDS trials, the trial that has to do with developing Meningitis antibiotics carried out in Nigeria by Pfizer raised eyebrows when it was alleged that the trial led to the death of children. When the company was sued by former Nigerian Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, the company attempted to blackmail him. We now know this, thanks to WikiLeaks via New York Times. The big drug companies apparently think that in Africa anything goes.
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