Many patients may have received the fatal injection at the New Senchi Health Centre, health authorities in Eastern Region have revealed.

So far four out of the five identified people who received the injection have died.

Health authorities in the Asuogyaman District told Joy News’ Manasseh Azure Awuni that the retired disease control officer who administered the fatal injections attended to between 15 to 20 people.

James Yeboah improvised the poisonous injections that have been found to contain expired Benzathine penicillin.

The five victims had gone to the facility to seek treatment for their skin infections but instead got administered the contaminated injections.

Mr Yeboah had been operating a private clinic at the facility health authorities say.

- Two of the patients who have died from the injections

The FDA has dispatched a Pharmacovigilance team to the area to assist with investigations.

Police in the Eastern Region have also begun criminal investigations into deaths.

Dr. Seth Fiadoyor, Medical Superintendent at the VRA Hospital – where some of the victims were taken to when they began suffering the side effects of the injections – said the cases were difficult to manage.

 “You will hear from the surgeon that these were very devastating destruction of tissues. Large areas necrotic with what we thought were both fungal microbial mixed infections. We tried a lot to put them on multiple wide-range antibiotics and supportive treatment but unfortunately out of the three, we lost two,” Dr Fiadoyor recounted.

Close relatives of the victims say the part of their bodies where the injections were administered began to rot when the side effects started.

The rotting body tissues were also resistant to treatment.

Health authorities in the Eastern Region are therefore appealing to persons who may have received the contaminated injections to step forward for assistance.