An alleged case of theft of medicines at the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) is investigated by the Public Ministry (MP), so prosecutors and experts from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office carried out raids at a headquarters in Quetzaltenango and a private laboratory , official sources reported this Tuesday, April 30.
“The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, through its fiscal agency in Quetzaltenango, in coordination with the Regional Prosecutor and the support of the National Civil Police, carries out two search procedures, inspection, registration and seizure of evidence,” details the MP.
He adds that one of the procedures was carried out at the IGSS headquarters in the city of Quetzaltenango and the other in a private laboratory, “following an investigation into theft of medicines.”
In response to these proceedings, the IGSS issued a statement in which it states that it will collaborate with the requirements made by the Prosecutor’s Office.
“The investigation being carried out at the Quetzaltenango General Hospital derives from an administrative complaint and, faithful to our ethical commitment, this was sent to the competent authorities to begin this process,” the IGSS statement states.
The document adds that the IGSS “is respectful of the laws and will collaborate with the requirements requested by the investigating entity in the process, in order to clarify any situation where its intervention is required.”
He adds that “under no circumstances will acts of corruption be tolerated, since the authorities are fully committed to guaranteeing integrity in all our activities, promoting accountability and combating any act of corruption in any of its forms.”
He assures that if any irregularity is proven “action will be taken with determination and in accordance with current laws.”
Neither the MP nor the OGSS gave details about the case under investigation.
Another case
On April 24, the San Juan de Dios General Hospital reported that it detected the theft of medications for cancer patients in that hospital, which was achieved after two weeks of investigation, through the camera monitoring system.
Due to the above, on April 23, a complaint was made to the M, so three suspects involved in the robbery were located.
It was said that the first signs of anomalous theft were discovered in the Hemato-Oncology Unit and a backpack with chemotherapy and anticonvulsant medications, which are used in the aforementioned patients, was discovered in a kiosk near that Unit.
Some of the medications found in the backpack cost between Q300 and Q24 thousand. They also found medical samples and a sealed prescription pad.
They have preliminarily linked three people who are workers at that hospital and who have been captured to the robbery.
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