The cause of death of patients after examination of the stomach in St. Petersburg could be poisoning with barium salts.
According to Izvestia, the procedure was to be performed using barium sulfate, but instead of a harmless substance, a drug containing dangerous water-soluble barium salts was used.
According to preliminary information, barium was supplied to the diagnostic center by LLC Neva Reaktiv.
The company told Izvestia that they supplied only barium sulfate, which is used only for industrial purposes.
“Here the situation is a bit strange in that we do not supply pharmaceutical substances. We supply chemical reagents, and we have this barium sulfate – not for fluoroscopy. It is a purely chemical reagent for industrial and analytical purposes. It’s a chemical reagent. It is not to be used internally.”, – said the head of the company Arkady Kamchatov.
He explained that the contract with the clinic did not specify that the supplied barium would be used for medical purposes.
The death of patients became known the day before. After examining the stomach in one of the diagnostic centers in St. Petersburg, three people died. According to Izvestia, three more are in intensive care.
The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for St. Petersburg opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Causing death by negligence to two or more persons”).
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
