Poison link to Croatia kidney deaths

Croatian hospitals have stopped using the equipment

An investigation into the deaths of 23 Croatian kidney dialysis patients is reported to have discovered poison gas in the US-manufactured equipment used to treat them.

The gas, perfluoroisobutylene, was detected a week after the patients died last October, Franjo Plavsic, the head of Croatia's toxicological institute, said.

The presence of this gas is likely an artefact of laboratory testing methods that exposed a fluid called PF 5070 to abnormally intense heat

Baxter International Inc.

Perfluoroisobutylene, which can be used as a chemical weapon, forms a powerful nerve gas which, when inhaled, arrests the central nervous system and paralyses breathing.

The US company Baxter, which makes the equipment, has questioned the accuracy of the Croatian findings.

"The presence of this gas is likely an artefact of laboratory testing methods that exposed a fluid called PF 5070 to abnormally intense heat," the company said in a statement.

It added that safety instructions clearly stated that "this fluid should not be exposed to extreme temperatures or toxic decomposition products".

If the information on poison gases in dialysers is true, it is a very important evidence for lawyers and for the attorney general's office

Andro Vlahusic, Croatian Health Minister

"PF 5070 is known to produce dangerous by-products, including perfluoroisobutylene, only if exposed to extreme temperatures in excess of 200C," the statement said.

The company said that during treatment dialysers were not exposed to heat above 40C.

Mr Plavsic said two women from the Croatian Ministry of Interior suffered serious poisoning during the investigation after inhaling the substance.

"I really do not know how it got there, although I cannot exclude the possibility that it appeared as a result of a chemical reaction," Mr Plavsic told the French news agency AFP.

Compensation

Baxter took its Althane dialysers off the market in October last year, after they were linked to the deaths of dozens of patients around the world.

After an investigation, the company said that "the processing fluid used a manufacturing aid which appeared to play a role" in the unexplained deaths.

Baxter said it had reached settlements with families of the patients in Croatia and in Spain, where 10 patients died.

Earlier this month, a public prosecutor in Sweden concluded that there was no basis to file any criminal charges against the company and closed an investigation there.

However, Croatian Health Minister Andro Vlahusic said prosecutors would decide whether to sue the company after the investigation had been completed.

"If the information on poison gases in dialysers is true, it is a very important evidence for lawyers and for the attorney general's office," he told the Vecerni List newspaper.