Honduran medication storehouses are a hotbed of corruption and incompetence that leave vulnerable patients, like Maritza Flores’ daughter, without lifesaving treatment.

ASJ investigators proved that medications are very poorly inventoried, leaving the door open for storehouse staff to steal medications. In just one case, $50,000 worth of medication was distributed without doing any inventory. Some cases of outright theft have also been recorded. In one well-documented case, 26,000 capsules of insulin disappeared from the storehouse. Finally, medication that is inventoried is stored in poor conditions, like in refrigerators next to employee’s food, and is left to expire.

The ASJ investigation created waves in the Honduran government. In March, the President placed the storehouse administrator, a very powerful political figure who had been in the position since 1987 on administrative leave, and had the military guard the storehouses so that employees could not tamper with evidence. ASJ employees are currently acting as observers in a thorough inventory of the warehouses, and in the overhaul of the medication storage system.

According to an ASJ lawyer working on the investigation, “What the government has done already is a huge accomplishment, considering how long these problems have been going one, but we’re hoping for more.”