Panamanians Poisoned
with Diethylene Glycol
The Panamanian
Prosecutor's Office has
received complaints from
700 people poisoned with
medications contaminated
with diethylene glycol,
107 of whom died,
according to official
statistics.
The people who reported
the poisoning claimed
that they took drugs
produced by the
state-owned laboratories
of Social Security Fund.
Some drugs made by those
laboratories have caused
serious ailments, and
even death, since mid
2006.
Of the total number of
cases under judicial
investigation, 134 were
ruloed out, 49 survived
the poisoning, and 330
are pending on
verification by legal
medicine experts.
Members of the Committee
for the Right to Health
and Life met Panamanian
Attorney General Ana
Matilde Gomez on Friday,
asked her about the
investigation, and
complained about slow
development of the
verification process.
The Prosecutor's Office
had to confirm whether
there was a mass
poisoning or the
poisoning was caused by
ingestion of
contaminated drugs,
Gomez said.
The victims who survived
the poisoning and the
relatives of those who
died filed a lawsuit
against the government
to demand millions of
dollars in compensation.
The tragedy broke out
after a Panamanian
state-owned company
bought the toxic
substance from a Spanish
intermediary firm that
sold the chemical as
harmless glycerin.
The Spanish firm claimed
it brought the substance
from a Chinese supplier,
but clarification of the
case is subject to a
lengthy criminal
process. |
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