Victims of Panama's cough syrup scandal want justice from Spain

The body of Delfín Mojica, 76, could not tolerate dialysis, so he had to be treated in a private clinic in Chiriqui, Panama. He later died at home in bed, the doctors having been unable to save him.

Mojica is the latest victim of a batch of poisonous cough syrup, which has now claimed the lives of 171 people and left nearly 2,000 sick. What began as a nightmare in 2005 continues to this day. At least 1,959 people still suffer from acute kidney failure, liver and pancreas damage, pulmonary edema and brain damage.

When Mojica died, hundreds of victims who took the same cough syrup - distributed free by the Panamanian Social Security system in the country's poorest neighborhoods - held a protest at the Spanish embassy in Panama City, as well as before the presidential palace and government offices in each province to protest a decision by Spain's High Court not to open an investigation into the Barcelona pharmaceutical company Rasfer Internacional SA, which played a role in the distribution. Earlier this month, the High Court rejected an appeal filed by the victims.

"How would the High Court react if the deaths occured in Spain?"

Gabriel Pascual, 35, an economist who chairs the Victims' Committee and who lost his 91-year-old grandmother and 70-year-old father, explains the anger and helplessness of the patients and their families. "We feel abandoned. We did not expect the Spanish court's decision. We just wanted a fair trial and justice. We are convinced that Rasfer is one of those responsible for this tragedy. Why did they throw out the case?"

Rasfer bought 9,000 kilos of glycerin from China and shipped it to Panama, where the Social Security system mixed it in its own laboratory to produce 216,685 bottles of cough syrup. The glycerin contained a high percentage of diethylene glycol, an industrial alcohol used in coolants and brake fluid that is highly toxic to humans.

In the chain of intermediaries from China to Panama, no one stopped the shipment or warned about the dangers of the glycerin, even though the product was labeled as being for industrial use.

Judge Ismael Moreno argued in his ruling that Rasfer was not under any obligation to recheck the shipment, and Judge Enrique López of the court's criminal division placed the responsibility in his ruling to the group that commissioned the glycerin, Medicom of Panama, for replacing the labeling on merchandise.

Alejandro San Vicente, a lawyer for the victims, uses an analogy to describe what happened: "It's as if you had asked for ham and they sent you sulfuric acid. The law says that if there is enough circumstantial evidence, the decision weighs on holding a trial, and here there is a lot of evidence that Rasfer was responsible. There are no arguments to support the dismissal of this very serious case. How would the High Court react if the deaths occurred in Spain? Would it dare to close the case? I don't think so."

There is an ongoing case in Panama involving 27 defendants, including two former directors from Social Security. Jaime Ingram, lawyer for the Panamanian Social Security, said he will appeal to Spain's Constitutional Court. "The court has deprived the victims of the right to a trial," he says.