Four years on Panama poisoning victims still awaiting justice

(newsroompanama.com) Four years have passed since Panama made world headlines with the poisoning of thousands of its citizens with a product used in cars as anti-freeze.

They all ingested government-issued cough syrup tainted with diethelyne glycol. So far 158 deaths have been linked to the event, and prosecutors are still investigating who could be charged.

In addition to the deaths thousands of people have reported health problems including blindness resulting from using the syrup. Medical officials say they may never know how many people took the medicine.

Prosecutors have been working on the case since 2006 to decide who should be criminally charged. Theophilus Gateno Hafeitz, who is under house arrest, and Angel De la Cruz, who is in prison have already been charged and another 18 are under investigation.

Authorities listed 1,677 victims, and have to go through another 1,488 possible cases. The poison affects several bodily functions including the kidneys, the eyes and the brain. People who took the poison are expected to have health problems for the rest of their lives.

Special Prosecutor Dimas Guevara said the medicine was distributed from 2004 until 2006, when the use of tainted ingredients was discovered.

******

Original Source: newsroompanama.com
Date Retrieved: October 3, 2010-