Click here to compare prices on hoodia >>>

What did the Bushmen get for their discovery of the Hoodia pills plant?

At first - nothing! Turns out the CSIR told Phytopharm that the tribe which discovered the Hoodia pills plant had died out and therefore no royalties were due. However, as Mark Twain might say - "tales of the Bushmen's death were greatly exaggerated". When the Bushmen got word that Phytopharm stood to make billions of dollars off their knowledge about the hoodia pills plant they were not happy.

Roger Chennells, a lawyer in South Africa who represents the Bushmen, was quick to apply strong legal , moral and political pressure on both the CSIR and Phytopharm. Chennells pointed out to anyone who would listen that the taking of traditional knowledge without compensation was "bio-piracy" and must be stopped.

In what is seen as a landmark case, Chennells was able to convince the CSIR and Phytopharm to compensate the Bushmen. Now, any company that legally harvests hoodia pills from the Kalahari desert must pay royalties back to the Bushmen. Not only is this fair and just, it also provides an excellent way to check if the hoodia pills you buy is legitimate. If the company that makes the hoodia pills is NOT paying royalties to the Bushmen, you do NOT have a legitimate hoodia pills product.

Probably never. As we touched on in the overview, Pfizer had originally paid Phytopharm for the rights to market a P57 based diet pill. After a few year of unsuccessful attempts to make P57 synthetically, Pfizer pulled out of the deal. If a large amount of P57 could not be created inexpensively in the lab, Pfizer was not interested.