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Two Bodies Testes Positive in
Panama Poison Scandal
Two bodies in Panama have tested
positive for a toxic chemical at
the heart of a scandal over
adulterated medicine made in
government laboratories, a
forensic scientist said on
Saturday.
Panama declared a national
epidemic alert in October after
people began dying from an
unexplained ailment that
affected the renal system and
caused neurological damage.
U.S. experts later identified
the cause as cough syrups and
other medicines tainted with
diethylene glycol, a solvent
that was used in place of a
similar but more expensive
chemical often found in liquid
drugs.
While official statistics cite
51 deaths, authorities have
received about 350 claims from
people who say the tainted drugs
may have been responsible for
their relatives' deaths.
This week, the government dug up
12 bodies, with the first two to
be fully tested having clear
signs of diethylene glycol
poisoning.
Jose Vicente Pachar, head of
Panama's Forensic Institute,
said the results showed 60 to 90
percent certainty of traces of
the solvent.
"That is very significant," he
told reporters.
Two other bodies were due for
further testing and the
remaining eight have yet to be
tested.
Last month, prosecutors began an
investigation into Health
Minister Camilo Alleyne and
other officials for their
alleged responsibility in the 51
deaths by poisoning.
Families of the dead filed a
criminal suit against Alleyne
and the heads of the country's
social security fund and called
for their resignations.
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