Spain throws out Panama tainted cough syrup case

Panama said it will appeal a Spanish court's decision to dismiss an investigation into a public health case that saw hundreds of people in the isthmus nation die after taking cough syrup made from glycerin imported from China by a Barcelona-based firm.

High Court Judge Ismael Moreno ruled that there was no criminal intent on behalf of the Spanish company because its officials were not aware that the mixture was deadly.

In 2006, some 250 people died in Panama after taking the syrup, which contained glycerin that was not intended for human consumption. The ruling was issued on April 26 but wasn't made public until Monday.

"It is as if they had dismissed the rapeseed oil case," said Alejandro Sanvicente, a lawyer for the victims, making reference to the colza scandal in 1981, in which about 1,100 people died in Spain. For two years, the lawyer said, the families of the victims had been waiting for a hearing.

Moreno said in his ruling that the Spanish company Rasfer only acted "as a mediator" when it won a public contract for 9,000 kilos of glycerin.

The medicine was mixed by Panamanian health authorities.