Investigations reveal that 90% of cancer chemotherapy treatment administered in 390 of Colombia’s medical centers and clinics (IPS) have not been approved by INVIMA – the national food and drug administration, reported newspaper El Espectador on Tuesday.
In several cases the INVIMA made visits to the various IPS clinics and also found that many did not meet health requirements and were not properly certified. Various clinics also failed to take appropriate measures that were required of them, making it so that they were carrying out their services illegally.
The investigation was sparked by a complaint filed by an 18-year-old man who reported having doubts about the quality of treatment he was receiving for his Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, because after 10 sessions of chemotherapy he had not experienced any of the side effects or felt any better.
Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office said in a news bulletin on the subject that this “alarming situation creates an unimaginable risk for the thousands of patients diagnosed with cancer that should be receiving treatment for their disease.”
