12 years on Panama mass poisoning victims still await justice

PATIENT S affected by diethylene glycol filed over 400 lawsuits against the state in the Panama Supreme Court on Wednesday, Aug, 29  in search of a solution to the problem they have been facing for 12 years.

Some 800 patients have died and 1,300  more were afflicted for life when they were provided with cough syrup containing the chemical used in windshield washer.

Gabriel Pascual, president of the Committee of Relatives and Victims of the Right to Health and Life (Cofadesavi) announced that the new demands exceed the $5.2 million, alleging that justice is sought so that the state compensates those affected.

“We are going to go out to the street as many times as necessary. We have been living this way for 12 years now, we expect too much, we need a state policy on health ”said Pascual.

Those affected by the massive poisoning of the Social Security Fund (SSC) in the central province point out that it is very difficult to move to the capital because of their suffering.

Pascual requests that medicines, supplies from laboratories and medical equipment be guaranteed so that the affected population can have a better quality of life, because of this failure by the CSS.

There are more than 417 lawsuits filed in the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, filed by those affected by the toxic syrup,  with  365 claims are pending.

The demands are individual and not collective because each victim has a different background and history.

The demands exceed $ 2.5 billion.