Exiting director stonewalls deputies on hospital deaths

THE DIRECTOR of Panama’s Social Security Fund (CSS), GuillermoSáez-Llorens repeatedly dodged questions from members of the National Assembly about the deaths of scores of patients from the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant carbapenemase (KPC) and the deaths of nine babies from the by application of heparin benzyl alcohol.

After more than three hours glorifying his achievements while in office Sáez-Llorens, retreated into a defensive posture when deputies challenged him on the deaths and administrative matters, such as advertising costs, outsourcing contracts and lawsuits against doctors and agency officials.
The man who spearheaded the move to name a new hospital after the then sitting president, Ricardo Martinelli, on Wednesday August 13, acted like a prisoner under interrogation who had been advised by his lawyer to admit to nothing.
“Do not know”, “I have no knowledge” and “I have no information” were Sáez-Llorens responses to questions from legislators, and he frequently passed the buck to a member of his staff who was equally unresponsive.
Frustrated by his answers, employees of the CSS, including medical, technical and administrative,staff and relatives of the victims of diethylene glycol poisoning KPC and poisoning by heparin benzyl alcohol shouted “murderer” from the packed stands and booed his answers.
For more than 12 questions about KPC and the prohibited use of heparin benzyl alcohol in the neonatal unit , Sáez-Llorens passed the question to the deputy director of the CSS, Marlon De Souza.
How many died from the KPC ?, How many officers have been investigated or removed from office for using of heparin benzyl alcohol was repeatedly asked by different deputies.
De Souza hid behind a statement that he could not give information on those deaths, because they are part of medico-legal processes investigated by the Public Prosecutor, reports La Prensa.

“I cannot give the number of deaths from KPC. The only institution authorized to determine who died of KPC is the Public Ministry, “De Souza replied again and again.
Independent legislator Ana Matilde Gómez Sáez-Llorens asked Sáez-Llorens whether he was warned by a technical committee on biosafety serious flaws contamination at the Hospital of the CSS.
“I was not warned (…) when I heard the KPC was a problem I took steps,” he told the full Legislature.
Gómez and PRD deputy Zulay Rodriguez Sáez- Llorens also asked whether the Ministry of Health had warned him about the prohibition of using heparin benzyl alcohol in new borns
The director said, “we were not warned” He claimed The Ministry of Health passed the information after the events that occurred in the newborn unit of the CSS between June and July 2013, which killed nine infants.
However, the ban on the use of heparin benzyl alcohol in neonates was contained in a Farmacoterapéutico Official Form SSC released in 2012 reports La Prensa.
Before facing the questions of the deputies, Sáez-Llorens, who leaves office in September and has been a lightning rod for dissent during his term, made a presentation for three hours and 20 minutes in which he said that the supply of medicines in the state is 97% and the CSS is financially ” a healthy and profitable institution.”