Blood feud
The saga of the defected blood bags continues, reports Reem Leila
MP Hani Sorour has been referred to Criminal Court after being accused of fraud and profiteering in supplying 300,000 blood transfusion bags last year which apparently did not comply with international standards.
On Tuesday, Sorour, who is also CEO of the Hayedelena Advanced Medical Industries Company (HAMIC), which produced the blood bags, was referred to the court by Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud.
Joining Sorour was his sister and partner Nivan Sorour, three HAMIC employees and two Health Ministry officials
Supreme Public Funds Prosecution Attorney Ali El-Hawari announced in a press conference that the defendants list includes Hayedelena factory manager Wafaa Abdel-Rehim El-Zorqani, production manager Ashraf Ishak, quality manager Fatheya Ahmed Abdel-Rehim, general manager of the Blood Department at the Ministry of Health Salaheddin Helmi and head of technical guidance of the Blood Department Mohamed Shokri.
According to the prosecutor-general's report, blood bags produced by HAMIC violated 14 provisions governing Egyptian and international standards. A forensic report proved that the bags may cause bacterial poisoning which may lead to death. Leakage in an anti- coagulant liquid inside the bags was another violation. The report said customs officials at Hayedelena had imported raw material for the bags prior to a tender, meaning the company had submitted to the Ministry of Health samples produced by other companies, then added its own sticker.
Investigations have included 340 witnesses, the most high-profile being Ministry of Health accountant Soheir El-Sharqawi who reported the violations. El-Sharqawi was later transferred by her superiors to another position.
Also questioned was the Health Ministry's director of legal affairs Sawsan Morsi who had demanded that the case be officially referred to the prosecutor-general. Her request was rejected by ministry officials.
The investigation also revealed severe negligence in some sections of the Ministry of Health, notably the blood unit, the pharmaceutical department, the National Centre for Monitoring and Medical Research, and government hospitals, all of which are affiliated to the ministry. El-Hawari said that after reviewing the submitted pleas, the prosecution commissioned technical committees of professors of medicine, pharmacy and chemical engineering, and found violations in the bags. Apparently, the investigation has shown that there were irregularities in the licence granted to Sorour's company to produce the blood bags since the company had no previous experience in the field.
The Ministry of Health has commissioned Cairo, Tanta, Mansoura, Zagazig and Assiut universities to analyse the samples. Each university took 20 samples. The results showed several defects, including high chloride and alkalinity levels in the material of which the bags were made. The abnormally high levels cause blood cells to explode, decreasing the amount of liquid inside the bags. Indents were found in the tubes, thus impeding the flow of blood and which cause patients to fall into comas. Moreover, the double bags were glued together and the sticker was of low quality. All these are considered manufacturing faults that violate international specifications.
A parallel investigation into the case is ongoing by the People's Assembly (PA). According to MP Mustafa El-Katatni, vice-head of the PA's Health Committee, the committee has concluded that HAMIC is innocent. "The PA's Health Committee visited Sorour's medical factory and found a highly sterilised factory equipped with the most advanced medical equipment," El-Katatni said. The flaws found in the blood bags are not considered technical defects because they can be easily revamped, he added. "HAMIC's blood bags are newly produced by a new company. Every new product has its pros and cons. I mentioned all these facts in the report," El-Katatni said.
"I did not read the PA's Health Committee report which acquitted MP Hani Sorour," MP Mohamed Abul-Enein, head of the PA's joint Health and Industry Committee, said. "It is an informal report which expresses personal points of view. Accordingly the PA is not responsible for it." A fact-finding committee consisting of health and industry officials which was formed by Abul-Enein conducted five meetings as well as several visits to Sorour's medical factory. The committee has been investigating the unconstitutionality of the deal. According to Abul-Enein, Article 95 of the Egyptian constitution forbids any MP to sell or buy any products or properties to and from any governmental entity. Validity of the produced blood bags, sterility of the factory and the product were also among the concerns of the fact finding commission. "The committee has observed 10 violations committed by both HAMIC and Health Ministry officials. The criminal side is to be decided by the prosecutor-general's office and the PA has no say in it," he said.
The prosecutor's office has denied the validity of the PA's investigative report, adding that the committee has no authority to rule in criminal cases.
Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman at the Health Ministry, said the ministry may have made a mistake by failing to issue comprehensive product specifications. In May, the health minister ordered that a committee be formed to write exact specifications for the more than 20,000 pieces of medical equipment that the ministry buys from external suppliers. "The committee has already finished putting the specifications for almost half of the equipment. The rest might take a few more months," Shahin said. Blood in Egypt is perfectly safe and clean, Shahin told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Following accusations of squandering the ministry's funds, Shahin said the ministry had then turned to two other bidders and asked that Sorour purchase bags from any of the two companies using his own money, then supplied them to the ministry. The ministry did not pay Sorour the money for the blood bags deal. "The ministry also forced him to pay a late payment fine, in addition to disbursing another sum of money as interest to the fine," Shahin said.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/849/eg6.htm