http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/760945.html


Remedia execs to be tried for allegedly causing infants' death

By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

Three of the former heads of baby formula firm Remedia will be tried for
causing the death of infants who were fed a non-dairy milk substitute
sold by the company in 2003, prosecutors said on Sunday. 

After three years of investigations, the prosecution has decided to
indict eight people involved in the affair ? three of the former heads
of the company and five Health Ministry officials. 

The former Remedia executives who will be tried are Remedia CEO Gideon
Landsberger, former directing manager Moshe Miller and Frederick Block,
head of research and development for the firm. 
 

The three will be charged with causing death with negligence, as well as
negligent sabotage, misleading the public, obstruction of justice,
spreading disease, fraud and conspiracy. 

A draft of the charge sheet says that the essential B1 vitamin was not
included in the mixture of vitamins added to the formula. But the
Remedia company did not inform the public of the error, and printed
labels that stated that the formula included more vitamins than it
actually did. 

According to the charges, several babies who were fed the formula were
hospitalized with severe damage to their nervous system. 

After being given B1 supplements, some of the infants showed
improvement, but others sustained irreparable damage to their systems
and two of the children did not survive. Another baby also died after
the incident, but this child's death was not included in the charge
sheet. 

Seventeen families have sued the German company Humana that manufactures
the formula for compensation after the affair. 

Five Health Ministry officials will also be charged as part of the
indictment for actions that could result in spreading disease, the
punishment for which could come to three years in prison. Among those
charged is the head of ministry's national food service. 

According to the charge sheet, the ministry officials did not verify
that the formula sent from Germany contained the ingredients listed on
the labels. 





Esther G

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