By Ana Ines Cibils | AFP News – Tue, Mar 20, 2012
Prosecutors said they received more reports of suspicious deaths after two male nurses admitted over the weekend to killing 16 patients at two hospitals in Uruguay.
Officials would not say how many deaths are under review, but have said that one of the suspects admitted killing 11 patients, and the other five.
The daily El Pais reported that the death toll could exceed 50.
"More complaints are arriving and we will be working specifically on them," to determine if there were more victims, said Angel Rosas, a federal official leading the investigation.
Police arrested the two male nurses on Sunday and charged them with murdering patients at a private Neurological Intensive Care Center and a public hospital's intermediate-level care unit.
The names of the suspects have not been released, but the El Observador newspaper identified them as Ariel Acevedo, 46, and Marcelo Pereira, 40.
The men confessed to the killings, telling investigators "they didn't like seeing people suffer," said Rolando Vomero, the judge overseeing the investigation.
One of the men's girlfriend, who also is a nurse, was arrested and charged with covering up information in the case.
Health Minister Jorge Venegas described the suspects as "serial killers," and promised far-reaching inspections of both private and public medical facilities, in consultation with the World Health Organization.
Venegas also said he would open a confidential hotline for tipsters to report suspected abuse, and a telephone counseling service to help those emotionally burdened by the scandal, unprecedented in this nation of three million.
It was "painful and disgusting" to contemplate "the presence of murderers" within the country's healthcare industry, said Deputy Health Minister Leonel Briozzo.
"There was no error here," Briozzo said. "There was intent to kill."
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