European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Vuly Magazine history s food poisoning Case Joes to trial by Sarah Nicholson United press International Francisco Gomez mated looked Down at his swollen hands and said softly i want to see their aces then i want to see them All  nearly six years ago a and his family Lell victim to a strange malady that hit 25.000 other spaniards and eventually killed Alec so 600 ii became known As the toxic Oil syndrome and acquired a place in the guinness Book of records As the world s largest mass Load poisoning. Gomez a to. 35. Still cannot come to terms with what has happened to his life since a smooth talking Salesman knocked on his Iron door peddling one gallon plastic Battles of pure Olive  ii god sends you a sickness it is one thing Bui Here you have men who poisoned poor people to gel Rich. Who can understand it the trial of 3b people began in Madrid end of March. The Range of charges includes 586 counts of manslaughter and 24.613 of serious injury the prosecution is seeking jail terms of up to 10,000 years Lor each of the eight alleged ringleaders. The Racket involved refining cheap  made from rape cod. A Lowery yellow Plant that grows in much of Europe to make it resemble Olive Oil. Most of in was sold door to door by paddlers using a Pilch just like the Olive Oil from your own Hometown thai was irresistible to working class housewives who recently left Southern Olive growing regions. The syndrome struck society s Bollom rung people who were vulnerable socially and economically to a food Racket says or. Miguel Angel Jimenez Arriero. Who Heads a psychiatric treatment Center for the victims at Madrid s Ramon y Cajal Hospital. Ii shattered then vision of the world and Lay have had Little help in pulling the pieces Back  known As Las afe Clados or the affected ones thousands of survivors still suffer paralysis crippling muscular and Bone diseases rolling Teeth or loss of vision. More than 4.000 receive regular psychiatric help for Bouls of rage anguish and despair brought on by whal doctors calf the Shock of  Madrid s Industrial belts and slums were hardest i. Nearly 2 000 people were affect of in Laganos. A Lawn of 200 000 poor Flo Highl Miles South of the capital. Among Ihm vein gumo2 Malmo his Wile. Eugenia and their 2-year-om son. Francisco whom May 19b1 came Down Wilh High severs and Chest pains diagnosed by a doctor As influenza As Lay Lay in Ted news reports said a  atypical a Neuroma t l unknown Causo vans spreading across Central Spain because Tiu in is death oct Mill near j u s an base Dumois no Road Zirul nerve Gas slow Sci at the facility was Cepon note panicked families to Lois no around Madrid Alio filled dogs cats and Birds believing household pets earned the disc i of then health  Jesus Sancho hoi Nail Uin tracking a Lille Bug so Fob to it a victim of the toxic cooking off screams at lha defendant As they leave the trial in Madrid. Would die it in hit the floor finally in late june a Madrid paediatrician pinpointed contaminated cooking Oil As the problem. By then Gomez Maleo and his family Lay close to deals suffering severe attacks of asphyxia drastic weight loss and paralysing muscular cramps. All three still a i lend physical therapy sessions to mend misshapen and pain riddled joints. Gomez Maleo no longer is under psychiatric care bul he continues to take Tranquili Zers and sleeping pills. I sometimes decl such a huge rage that i have to leave the House i yell Al my wife bul. God knows it is not her fault he said Gomez Maleo earned a monthly salary of 70,000 pesetas or $549. As a construction worker until he loll ill. Mow his family must make do with 36,000 pesetas or s27s, in slate assistance. His biggest fear is he will never be Well enough to work again i Leel like someone Drew a Black line across my Hie he said. Or. Jimenez Arriero believes the syndrome triggered one of medical history s worst cases of catastrophic Shock it has a machiavellian element that makes it a Cruelle experience to Cope with than an earthquake or a chernobyl Lor example he said. Many of his patients have withdrawn from society into a Shell of hatred " Many do not watch television because news of other disasters makes them relive Tho anguish they went through. Whatever the irial s outcome it May nol to sufficient to give the victims Iho fooling thai Bushce has been done he said. The prosecution which amassed a 250.000-Page dossier bases its Case largely on the world health organization s conclusion that adulterated Oil was beyond a doubt Iho cause of Iho poisonings despite research in laboratories in Canada the United Stales Britain and Spain the exact toxin or toxins was nol identified. One theory holds aniline a red Dye added to the Oil to Brand it Lor Industrial use turned lethal when the brow was heated. The failure to pin Down the killer agent gives defense lawyers their key argument cooking Oil was not the culprit but lawyers for the victims cite the Khalid Omilo Case in West Germany where 8,000 pregnant women who look the tranquil scr Between 1957 and 1961 gave birth la babies with severe defects. While the exact chemical producing thai tragedy was never identified a court ruled thalidomide was the cause. The rial expected to last five months has revived debate Over Spain s Lood Industry where More than 100,000 companies operate under lax controls Arcadia Fernandez head of the association of victims in Legates said he recently bought an unmarked Billle of cooking Oil Al a warehouse outside own. I reported Illo authorities but a week later the Oil was still on Sale he said. Nothing has been done to keep this trom happening again  at the trial in Madrid the 38 defendants their backs to the audience Are protected by bulletproof Glast. Saturday. April 11. 1987 the stars and stripes Page 13