Reuters AlertNet Lite - Panama investigates minister in poison scandal

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Panama investigates minister in poison scandal

16 Jan 2007 21:41:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

PANAMA CITY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Panamanian prosecutors have begun an investigation into Health Minister Camilo Alleyne and other officials over the deaths of at least 51 people poisoned by adulterated medicine made in government laboratories.

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.

"Us taking up the suit does not mean we have identified any specific crime," Kenia Porcell of the attorney-general's office said on Tuesday. She added the process was in its early stages and did not merit Alleyne's resignation.

In October, Panama declared a national epidemic alert after people began dying from an unexplained ailment that affected the renal system and caused neurological damage.

Experts from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later identified the source as cough syrups and other medicines contaminated with diethylene glycol, a solvent commonly used as brake fluid that was employed in place of a similar but more expensive chemical often used in liquid drugs.

Official statistics cited 51 deaths from 92 reported cases, and around 200 more deaths are being investigated for possible links to the poisoning.

The scare led President Martin Torrijos to announce widespread reforms to the public health system.

At the height of the crisis, Alleyne said the medicines had likely been tampered with maliciously, a claim he has not repeated.

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Last updated:Tue Jan 16 21:43:25 2007