CAIRO: Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud initiated an urgent investigation into the mysterious death of eight heart patients in a hospital at the Delta city of Mahalla, the local press reported. The victims died in the Intensive Care Unit of the Cardiac Center between March 12 and 21, 2008 following severe brain hemorrhaging and renal failure after undergoing open-heart surgery at the center. Minister of Health Hatem El Gabaly has convened a committee including Dr Adel El Banna, chief surgeon at the Cardiac Center, clinical pathologist Dr Azza Mansi, anesthesiologist Dr Mohamed Murad and others to look into the violations that may have led to the death of the eight victims in nine days. In the meantime, lawyers Afifi and Osama Abu Zeid have pressed charges against the Center's manager Mahmoud Hamza and his deputy Mohamed Qinawy to reveal which pharmaceutical companies they have dealings with. Mahalla MPs Saad El Husseiny and Yehia El Messiri have brought the issue up at the PA, demanding that the Health Minister specify the exact reasons behind the disaster and holding them accountable.
