Jelfa's drug debacle

The first ill-effects involving Corhydron, a medicine used by asthma and allergy sufferers, were reported back in February. Since that time it has been tested by pharmaceutical inspectors several times and it eventually came to light that an ingredient called chlorsuccillin, a powerful muscle relaxant, had been added to the drug. Corhydron wasn't withdrawn from the market until last week, however, when Dziennik revealed that up to eight people might have died after taking the drug.

Following Dziennik's public revelation, Prime Minister Kaczyński suspended the production of all 80 medicines produced by the Jelenia Góra-based company. "We are afraid that mistakes could have been made in the production of other medicines," said the Health Minister, Zbigniew Religa.

Jelenia Góra's prosecutor's office has launched an investigation. "New evidence has appeared and we have grounds for an investigation," said Ewa Węglarowicz-Makowska, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office.

At a press conference the Prime Minister said that he and the Health Ministry had learned of the scandal from the media. However, a spokesperson for Religa, Paweł Trzciński, admitted that the Ministry had been notified about the danger much earlier.

The leadership of the General Pharmaceutical Inspectorate, which knew about the problem by October 31, was sacked by the Health Ministry. Dziennik also claims the Health Ministry was negligent. There are no valid regulations requiring pharmaceutical companies to immediately publicize mistakes made during the production of medicines, as the previous law expired on December 15, 2005.