In October I posted that 21 people had died in Panama after the industrial chemical diethylenglycol, poisoned the expectorant antihistamine sugar-free syrup of 120 milligrams made by the Social Security Fund (SSB).Panama's health officials now say that total has reached 48.
The toxic medicine causes kidney and neurological damage. The majority of the deaths have occurred in people with a history of high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney problems.
Authorities have detained three people from the company Medicom S.A., which sold to the government the contaminated ingredients used to make the medicine.
