- it should not have been wrong. 88 children died

- it should not have been wrong. 88 children died The number carved on a drum promised "Ninety-eight percent USP-grade glycerine"-a pharmaceutical guarantee measured to decimal points-but the barrel actually contained 54% glycerine and a large proportion of diethylene glycol, a colorless, odorless poison that killed 88 Haitian children within days; how did a written laboratory warning fail to stop those deaths, and was this an accident or part of a decades-long mechanism that repeated around the world? In this episode, we lay out the chain of documents, decisions, and shipments that led from a Chinese supplier to a Dutch trader to a Haitian manufacturer to sick children, and follow parallel signs that the same lethal substitution surfaced later in other countries; could a single withheld warning explain eighty-eight deaths in Haiti and more elsewhere? Person: Dr. Michael Bennish Event: Haiti pediatric syrup poisoning Country: Haiti Date: 1996 Substance: 54% glycerine and substantial diethylene glycol - 109 children swallowed the contaminated syrups Afébril and Valodon. - 88 children died, a case fatality rate of over 80%. - Laboratory analysis showed the drum contained 54% glycerine, not 98% as labeled. - A laboratory had warned Vos BV the batch was impure before shipment, but Vos BV did not pass the warning to Pharval. - Vos BV later settled a Dutch environmental case in 2001 for 500,000 guilders with no homicide prosecution. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].