The families of the deceased babies demand justice before the Neonatal Maternity of Cordoba. (Photo: Mario Sar)

The justice accused a former director and a former head of nursing of the Neonatal Maternal Hospital “Ramón Carrillo” of the city of Cordoba For “forgetting homework public official” in the context of the investigation of the infant deaths which were recorded last year.

He is the deputy medical director of the health center, Claudia Ringelheim and the former chief nurse of the same institution, Alice Ariza. The decision was taken by the prosecutor leading the investigation, Raul Garzon.

Thus, the number of defendants increased to nine. The most complicated person in the cause is the nurse brenda aguerodetained since August last year for “capital homicide to apply an insidious method when providing potassium incompatible for life.

Although she has already been charged with “aggravated concealment, dereliction of the duties of a public official and ideological lying”, the former director of the neonatal hospital was arrested on February 22 Liliana Assisi, believing that his freedom creates a procedural danger. The prosecutor’s office alleges that Asís is responsible for not reporting the cases on time and for signing the death certificates of children killed in suspicious situations.

According to information provided by the lawyer for the families of the victims, Carlos NayiA telam, two other former officials of the provincial health portfolio are under investigation for the offense of “omission of functions”. In this sense, the former Minister of Health is charged, but released Diego Cardozo and former Health Secretary Paul Carvajaas well as the former assistant director of the hospital, Alexandre Salama.

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Among those surveyed are also the former heads of neonatal areas Marta Gomez Flores there Adriana Morales for the same crime of dereliction of duty as a public official, in addition to “ideological lie”.

The judicial investigation began on August 11, 2022 after the sudden death of five babies born healthy between March and May of that same year. Autopsy reports of two of the deceased babies stated that the newborns had died due to a picture of “hyperkalemia due to excess potassium”, which had been “intentionally injected”; Consequently, Justice ordered the exhumation of the bodies of the other minors.

The progress of the investigation allowed Brenda Agüero to be linked to the deaths, who had searched on Google: “How to administer potassium?” However, the 27-year-old argued months after her arrest that she had made the request to her search engine to access “study material” and reiterated that as part of her duties they did not include giving injections to newborns.

After the death of their children, families "mistrustful" from medical reports
After their children’s deaths, families became ‘wary’ of medical reports

Prosecutor Garzón argued that there is a pattern that repeated itself among the deceased babies: a fourth puncture that matched potassium and was provided by Agüero. Usually, newborns are inoculated three times, as they receive the vaccine against Hepatitis Bthere BCG there Vitamin K.

The woman is also charged with the same crime to the degree of “attempt” on eight babies who were allegedly victims of a similar practice during the same months in which the deaths were recorded, but managed to survive.

In October 2022, while the nurse was already in police custody, newborn twins lost their lives in a situation similar to neonatal, for which an investigation was opened to determine the causes of death for both. One of the two babies died a few hours after birth, while the other occurred nearly 20 days later. Likewise, these cases are studied independently of the central cause.

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