# E-DRUG: German company and the glycerine scandal in Haiti

**URL:** https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-german-company-and-the-glycerine-scandal-in-haiti/1241
**Category:** e-drug
**Created:** [August 22, 1997, 2:44pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-german-company-and-the-glycerine-scandal-in-haiti/1241 "1997-08-22T14:44:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![SCHOLZ.UWE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71e660/32.png) [@SCHOLZ.UWE](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/SCHOLZ.UWE)
#### Post date: [August 22, 1997, 2:44pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-german-company-and-the-glycerine-scandal-in-haiti/1241/1 "1997-08-22T14:44:05Z")

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E-DRUG: German company and the glycerine scandal in Haiti  
---------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

My name is Uwe Scholz and I am scientific assistant for the  
health sector with the Green party in Hamburg, Germany.

Recently we have been able to discover some of the rather  
dangerous proceedings of the German company HELM AG in Hamburg.  
Several former employees of HELM pharmaceuticals contacted us and  
gave us detailed information. For example, we received explicit  
copies of internal orders to change labels, to change date of  
production, expiration, country of origin / producer, name of  
product, potency etc. - besides we were given report about how  
HELM pharm. usually handles drugs.

We took a parliamentary initiative and brought these grave  
misconduct to the attention of the local attorney and the press  
(in close cooperation with the Hamburger Rundschau). So far nothing  
much has come of it. Therefore we would like to get additional  
account of the dealings of the HELM AG with other parties, countries  
or institutions. We appreciate any help.

Below is a press clipping from a Dutch newspaper on the glycerine  
scandal in Haiti:

After the deaths of at least sixty children, the Haitian government  
requested help from the US Food and Drug Administration to carry out  
an investigation to discover the origin of the glycerine. This syrup,  
in which the glycerine delivered by Vos made up an important part was  
produced by the Haitian pharmaceutical company Pharval. FDA staff  
visited different countries to do this, including the Netherlands  
(branch of HELM:VOS in Rotterdam). From the FDA report that was  
released earlier it was revealed among other things that the glycerine  
was mixed with the antifreeze, diethylene glycol. In high doses, this  
material is fatal for children.

The parent company, Helm AG, which has its head office in Hamburg,  
is one of the largest European chemical and pharmaceutical trade  
companies in the world with a global turnover of more than 6 billion  
German marks. In the German media, Helm AG has already been linked  
to problems involving the delivery of pharmaceuticals in Third World  
countries. The firm has offices in more than 30 countries across  
Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Approximately  
1,300 people work for the company.

Please send me email. Thanks a lot. Regards,

Uwe Scholz  
Hamburg  
Germany  
Email: SO5A078@sozwi.sozialwiss.uni-hamburg.de

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