mental hospital where 26 patients died in a cold snap a year ago that
embarrassed a government that prides itself on its health care.
The Havana Provincial Court slapped the longest sentence, 15 years, on
the director of the hospital, Wilfredo Castillo, for
"misappropriation" and "dereliction of duty," an official statement
read out on the state news broadcast said. The other sentences ranged
from 5 to 15 years.
The court said prosecutors proved their case but regretted that the
case resulted in "several people dying," the text said in part.
According to the official account, 26 patients died when temperatures
on the tropical island plunged to 3.9 degrees Celsius (39 degrees
Fahrenheit) beginning on January 9, 2010.
Cuba's outlawed human rights commission has estimated that more than
30 patients died because others perished later at other hospitals and
were not included in the official toll.
Hospital employees told the press at the time that the patients were
undernourished and had no blankets because the hospital's supplies had
been stolen by people who worked there.
Clinical evaluations of the victims found signs of malnutrition, a
high incidence of anemia and vitamin deficiencies, according to the
official report, which said the hospital received enough food for
2,458 patients when there were only 1,484 patients, the official
report said.
It added that an absence of controls "favored the misappropriation of
resources destined fundamentally for the nourishment of the patients,
as well as for clothing and bedding for their protection."
Health and education are free and available to all in Cuba, but the
government has acknowledged that the system has deteriorated in recent
years due to internal economic problems and the US trade embargo.
