PUEBLA, MEXICO – The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) has called for a new tender for the supply of dialysis equipment in the central city of Puebla after canceling a first attempt for suspected corruption.
The internal affairs department of the IMSS and the Mexican Secretariat of the Civil Service are investigating possible collusion between executives of Baxter International, a Deerfield, Illinois-based healthcare company, and IMSS officials.
The Mexican unit of Baxter won the first tender for providing peritoneal dialysis equipment and services in Puebla, a city of around 2.5 million in the central state of the same name. The more than 40 million Mexican pesos (US$2.2 million) contract was to supply the equipment and services for attending 497 patients between May 1 and December 31 of this year.
The suspicion of corruption stems from a specification in the tender rules that only equipment for automated peritoneal dialysis services through the hydropneumatic system could be provided. This equipment is made exclusively by Baxter in Mexico.
The IMSS said in a statement that this limited the participation of more suppliers in the tender.
