Veracruz Gov. Miguel Ángel Yunes this week alleged that the administration of Javier Duarte, his predecessor, committed medical fraud by giving children battling cancer water instead of chemotherapy treatment. Mexico's Ministry of Health has launched an investigation. Photo courtesy of Miguel Ángel Yunes

Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Mexico's Ministry of Health said it is investigating allegations made by Veracruz Gov. Miguel Ángel Yunes that children battling cancer were given water instead of chemotherapy under his fugitive predecessor.

Former Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte resigned in October to face a corruption investigation and disappeared a week later. Officials said they believe Duarte, who has been charged with money laundering and organized crime, is on the run.


In a press conference this week, Yunes said officials discovered medical fraud under Duarte's leadership.

"We already have results from a laboratory that pointed out that the medication given to children, a chemotherapy given to children, was not really a drug, but an inert compound. It was practically distilled water," Yunes said. "This really seems to be a brutal sin, an assault on the lives of children, and it is being analyzed and, at its moment, charges will be filed."

In December, police raided a property belonging to Duarte and recovered millions of dollars worth of stolen goods.

Mexico's Secretary of Health José Narro Robles said he has already sent a special team to investigate the medical fraud allegations.

"I instructed personnel of the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks to investigate in depth, with technical and scientific basis, possible sanitary irregularities," Narro Robles said in a statement. "If irregularities were committed and there is responsibility, we will act against the people or companies involved."

Yunes' press conference is available to view online via Periscope.