S. Korea’s prestigious university’s report on fatal humidifier disinfectant of Reckitt Benckiser may be manipulated

Korea Herald 2016 4 4

South Korean prosecutors have summoned a professor and researchers at Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to investigate the allegation that their report made at the request of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, Korean operation of the British company Reckitt Benckiser, was manipulated, according to sources on Sunday.

The British company is one of manufacturers of humidifier disinfectants, which are believed to be associated with some fatalities of consumers in Korea in 2011.

Korean prosecutors found a clue in an additional raid to Oxy Reckitt Benckiser in February that the country’s prestigious university’s experiment report forwarded to the company was fixed. Prosecutors will begin summoning people from the company to understand what went wrong and identify who is responsible. Attention is now being paid to whether there will be clarification of who will be responsible and whether will be criminal punishment five years after the incidents.

Prosecutors suspect the company submitted the report as evidence to show there is no causal relationship between its humidifier disinfectants and lung damage of the victims, while the research team did not finish its test yet.

Prosecutors focused on why the report failed to reflect sufficient test results during investigations into the researchers, including a professor at the university.

The professor told the Maeil Business Newspaper that he cannot confirm whether there was manipulation and he needs consultation with his lawyer to deliver his position without a prejudice.

Oxy Reckitt Benckiser engaged the research team to test its product Oxy Ssak Ssak in order to dispute the government’s investigation results.

In 2011, a fact-finding committee of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded “active ingredient PHMG of the humidifier disinfectants killed the victims, acknowledging the products’ toxicity.” But the report the company submitted to prosecutors contained data to show there is no toxicity in the product.

This case started in 2011 when pregnant women and toddlers died of acute lung disorders after using humidifier disinfectants and then Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health gathered 110 bereaved family members and filed a criminal complaint against manufacturers of toxic humidifier disinfectants in 2012.

The case has received less attention until a new task force team was set up late January this year. On February 23, 29 current and past Oxy employees were reported to prosecutors.