Drug availability, distribution and control are major concerns in health development.

In contending that the concern in Nigeria now is as much with the availability of, as well as the dangers in drugs, this essay examines the 1990 paracetamol poisoning which resulted in the death of 109 children.

It is explained that this tragedy, and others before it, are more fully understood within the context of a seemingly free-for-all drug scene on the one hand, and a health care system which excludes the majority on the other.

The implication of this « drug swindling », of which the paracetamol tragedy is a part, are discussed.