legal

Medicine probe expands

The Attorney General's office is investigating ties between Medicom S.A., which distributed medicinal ingredients from China tainted with diethylene glycol, and other Panamanian companies that provided it with funding.

This was confirmed yesterday by special prosecutor Dimas Guevara, who is handling the case. Guevara said that information has been uncovered linking the other companies, which have not been identified, to Medicom.

The owner of Medicom, Ángel de la Cruz, has been charged with selling tainted cough medicine ingredients to the Caja de Seguro Social. That medicine has been linked to the deaths of 116 people.

While Cruz has been the only person charged in the case so far, Guevara said more people could be implicated. The prosecutor said that the new information about the other companies is still being analyzed.

Sources, however, said that officials from three other companies will be called to testify about their involvement with Medicom in the coming days.

Concerns have been raised by victim's relatives that the case has appeared to come to a halt, but Guevara promised that it is still moving forward.

"The case has not concluded and the dossier remains open," the prosecutor said. "If the relatives have any questions, they can come to my office."

Officials are also looking at prosecuting individuals from a Spanish company that exported the tainted ingredients.