What Happened
Members of Panama’s Committee for the Right to Health and Life said the $25,000 compensation awarded by the Supreme Court of Justice to three people harmed by contaminated medicines is far too low to cover the costs of living with the effects of dietilenglicol exposure.
Committee spokesman Gabriel Pascual said that even though the recipients of the ruling are not part of the group, the amount does not reflect the long-term medical burden faced by victims. He argued that treatment costs alone can reach that sum within a few years, especially when medicines and medical supplies are taken into account.
The ruling ordered compensation for Juan Antonio Cisneros Morán, Yackline Del Carmen Reyes Anderson and Cindy Del Carmen Guilén Casiano after their consumption of contaminated medicines linked to the Social Security Fund, known as the CSS.
Why Victims Say It Is Not Enough
Pascual said the amount is insignificant compared with the millions of dollars originally demanded for the damage caused. The committee says affected patients continue to face lasting health consequences and recurring expenses tied to the toxic exposure.
Víctor Orobio, lawyer for the patients favored by the ruling, also said the sum does not compensate for the scale of the harm caused by consuming contaminated medications. Still, he welcomed the decision because it acknowledges the CSS’s responsibility in one of Panama’s most painful public health tragedies.
What the Court Ordered
Along with the payment, the court ordered the CSS to issue a public apology on its institutional website through a special section on the dietilenglicol cases. That section must include an interactive map by province and keep updated information on the compensation claims filed before the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court.
The sentence also says that taking a defective pharmaceutical product not fit for human consumption is enough to presume objective moral damage. The magistrates noted that consuming contaminated medicines created uncertainty, anguish and a loss of peace of mind, with direct effects on physical, emotional and physiological well-being.
Broader Impact of the Case
The ruling also orders the construction of a monument and the installation of a commemorative plaque at the Ciudad de la Salud headquarters of the CSS, listing the names of all recognized victims as a tribute to those who died.
The dietilenglicol case remains one of the most significant legal and health tragedies in Panama. The Third Chamber continues to process 472 contentious-administrative compensation claims against the Panamanian state, with 387 already at the merits stage awaiting a decision. Those pending cases represent 82% of the files that have cleared the procedural steps needed for a ruling.
In its jurisprudence on these cases, the court has said compensation depends on proving three elements: a failure or deficiency in public service, the existence of a certain and unlawful harm, and a direct causal link between the service failure and the injury suffered.