Death toll from tainted medicine in Tabasco rises to 5

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s state-owned oil company said the death toll from a tainted drug given to dialysis patients at one of its regional hospitals has risen to five.

As published on The Yucatan Times on March 3rd, a patient died after receiving contaminated medicine at a PEMEX hospital, in Tabasco.

Petroleos Mexicanos said in a statement late Tuesday March 10th, that 53 patients were still receiving treatment, 26 of whom are still hospitalized.

In late February, dozens of dialysis patients at the Pemex Regional Hospital received heparin sodium medication that later tested positive for the bacteria Klebsiella spp, according to Pemex.

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission said it believes approximately 90 patients received the tainted drugs and sent a team to the hospital in the Tabasco state city of Villahermosa to interview patients. It said in a statement Wednesday that the hospital and Pemex had refused its requests for contact with relatives of the dead.

Pemex operates its own health care system, including hospitals, for employees, retirees and their families. The Gulf coast state of Tabasco is one of its primary centers of operations.