Diethylene glycol: CSS advances procedures to compensate victims

Panama’s Social Security Fund, known as the CSS, said it is advancing the procedures needed to comply with court decisions in the diethylene glycol case. The institution said it has already set aside funds for the first 12 beneficiaries whose judgments have been formally notified.

Each beneficiary will receive B/.25,000, bringing the initial total to B/.300,000. The administrative procedures required to make the payments are under way. The CSS said it will review each judgment individually as it receives formal notification, determining the administrative and budgetary steps required by each ruling.

The institution also plans to activate a digital platform where victims can use their identification details to check the status and stage of their cases. The CSS said the system will include protocols to protect the privacy and confidentiality of medical and legal information.

The CSS will publish the public apologies ordered by the courts on its official website, following the terms of each judgment and recognizing the responsibilities established in connection with the contaminated medicines.

It is also taking steps to build a monument at Ciudad de la Salud and install a commemorative plaque at the Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital Complex, where the former medicines laboratory operated. The CSS said technical inspections have already identified the spaces for the memorial elements. It reiterated that it would comply with formally notified court decisions while protecting victims’ and relatives’ medical and legal information under current law.