Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Panama cough syrup death toll rises further
15 Feb 2008 00:00:58 GMT
 Source: Reuters
PANAMA CITY, Feb 14 - At least 115 Panamanians died after drinking toxic cough syrup in 2006, investigators said on Thursday, as the slow probe into the health disaster turned up more cases.

Jose Oro, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Affairs, said recent clinical tests had shown at least 115 people died after taking cough syrup that was adulterated with diethylene glycol, a poisonous substance normally used in engine coolant.

The Chinese-made toxin was mistaken for a sweetener by government drug manufacturers, who made low-cost medicines for Panama's poorest people.

Investigators previously estimated the drug had killed 94 people, mainly from kidney failure or related ailments.

Investigations are only slowly turning up new cases because of the number of people involved. Only around 20 percent of the 763 people tested to date have actually shown traces of the deadly drug, according to a government study. (Reporting by Andrew Beatty, editing by Todd Eastham)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  IMPACT 2010: new strategy to take community action to scale
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  Land of Happiness for the Selected
NRC - Norway

•  CWS appeal: China winter storm response
CWS

•  Snow storms show no sign of easing up: World Vision China distributes quilts
World Vision - Asia Pacific

•  ACT Alert: Severe winter freezing and snow, China
ACT - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Panama cough syrup death toll rises further

•  Bush says won't use Olympics to criticise China

•  Pamela Anderson campaigns for seals in Paris

•  Olympics-China "regrets" Spielberg's Darfur decision

•  INTERVIEW-Japan hopes G8 will set emission peak goal

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Panama cough syrup death toll rises further (1 minute ago)

Bush says won't use Olympics to criticise China (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
Climate change and conflicts: Is there a link at all? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
IMPACT 2010: new strategy to take community action to scale (1 minute ago)

Blogs
VIEWPOINT: West's 'dirty work' fuels China's resource spree (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: China: snow (5th Feb) (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
Panama China

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-13T221754Z_01_PAN03_RTRIDSP_2_PANAMA-RIOT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PAN03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-13T221719Z_01_PAN04_RTRIDSP_2_PANAMA-RIOT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PAN04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-13T221327Z_01_PAN02_RTRIDSP_2_PANAMA-RIOT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PAN02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-13T144450Z_01_NAC03_RTRIDSP_2_PORTUGAL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NAC03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-13T142530Z_01_MOS15-_RTRIDSP_2_KYRGYZSTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MOS15..htm

Riot police take cover behind vehicles during a protest against the death of a worker in Panama city February 13, 2008. The worker died during a protest on February 12, 2008. ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Feb 14 23:58:43 2008