Tests show Milosevic took wrong drugs (Reuters extensive investigation apparently concluded)

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 3/13/06 | Nicola Leske

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THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who had wanted to go to Russia for medical treatment, took drugs that worsened his health before dying in his prison cell, a Dutch medical expert said on Monday.

Groningen University toxicologist Donald Uges told Reuters he thought Milosevic, whose body was released for burial after an autopsy and toxicology tests, had taken the drugs to improve his case for going to Russia, where his wife and son live.

Milosevic, 64, who suffered from a heart condition and high blood pressure and was found dead in bed in his cell on Saturday, faced a possible life sentence in his war crimes trial at the Hague tribunal.

"I don't think he took his medicines for suicide -- only for his trip to Moscow ... that is where his friends and family are. I think that was his last possibility to escape The Hague," Uges said. "I am so sure there is no murder."

Uges said tests he conducted two weeks ago on Milosevic's blood showed traces of rifampicin -- a drug against leprosy and tuberculosis that would have neutralized other medicines.

A preliminary autopsy report on Sunday showed Milosevic died of a heart attack, but toxicology tests were still under way to establish its cause. His lawyer said Milosevic's son Marko would come to take the body to Belgrade for burial.

Milosevic's widow, brother and son all live in Russia. His wife Mira Markovic risks arrest if she returns to Serbia. Last month, the tribunal rejected a request by Milosevic to be allowed to travel to Moscow for specialist medical care.

His lawyer said Milosevic feared he was being poisoned and wrote to Russia the day before he died asking for help.

"The central issue is whether or not Mr. Milosevic was receiving the proper medical treatment," he told journalists.

The man branded the "Butcher of the Balkans" had been on trial for four years on charges on 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes involving conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s.

AUTOPSY

The autopsy on Milosevic was conducted by Dutch scientists and attended by Serbian pathologists. Serbia said the autopsy was very professional and the whole procedure was filmed.

A spokeswoman for the U.N. tribunal said it was too early to say whether the heart attack might have been caused by poisoning or whether suicide could be ruled out, and noted that an inquiry ordered by court president Fausto Pocar was continuing.

Former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic committed suicide at the detention center last week.

Milosevic's lawyer said on Sunday his client had written to Russia asking for help a day before his death as he believed he had been given the wrong drugs -- including some for leprosy and tuberculosis -- in a bid to silence him.

The Russian foreign ministry said on Monday it had received the letter and said Milosevic's brother Borislav, former Yugoslav ambassador to Moscow, had asked a group of Russian doctors to fly to the Hague to take part in the autopsy.

The Dutch pathologists said Milosevic died of a "myocardial infarction" that could be explained by two heart conditions he suffered from, the U.N. tribunal said on Sunday.

A myocardial infarction is usually caused by a blockage in one of the coronary arteries that supplies blood to the heart.

Cardiologists treating Milosevic had warned he was at risk of a hypertensive emergency, when surges in blood pressure can damage the heart, kidneys and central nervous system.

Leo Bokeria, head of the cardiology center in Moscow where Milosevic had wanted to be treated, told Russia TV he was not convinced that poisoning provoked the heart attack.

"It's unlikely. From what was said the day he died, that he was found lifeless, it looked very much like a very sudden death from heart failure," Bokeria said.

NO STATE BURIAL

Milosevic's widow Mira Markovic visited him at the detention center until 2003, when she fled Serbia for Russia to avoid arrest on charges of abusing her power.

Serbian prosecutors have rejected a bid by Milosevic's lawyer to drop the warrant against her because of his death.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Milosevic should not get a state burial and he would not grant an amnesty to Markovic.

A Serbian court dropped all charges against Marko Milosevic last year, a controversial decision made after the main witness against him unexpectedly withdrew evidence that Marko and his thugs had threatened him with a chain-saw.

A Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said the embassy in Moscow had not received a request from Marko for a visa.

Belgrade is under pressure to arrest six remaining war crimes fugitives as it moves toward European Union membership, among them Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, both accused of genocide.

Apart from a vigil by about 100 elderly supporters, few in Serbia showed emotion over the death of Milosevic, who ruled with an iron grip from 1990 until his overthrow in 2000.

By contrast, hundreds in Belgrade placed wreaths on the grave of reformist President Zoran Djindjic, who ousted Milosevic and who was assassinated three years ago.

(Additional reporting by Alexandra Hudson in Amsterdam)

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From their headline, it appears Reuters has concluded how it all went down. Milosevic “took” the wrong drugs, he wasn’t “given” the wrong drugs, by UN-employed doctors. I guess Slobo just went shopping at the prison pharmacy and randomly prescribed himself some leprosy and tuberculosis drugs (though he had neither condition) and it was just bad luck that those particular random drugs he "took" neutralized the medicines he actually needed to stay alive.

The fact that he wrote a letter claiming he was being poisoned, a day before he died doesn’t really merit further investigation on the part of Reuters. The interviewed some toxicologist from somewhere who said it wasn’t murder. No way it was murder.

[Semper Paratus]

Maybe he couldn't read the prescription warnings in Dutch?

[Tulsa Ramjet]

A meth addict. I knew it.

[george76]

Lead poisoning ?

[AppyPappy]

He was spotted in a Rite-Aid in Danville, Va arguing with the pharmicist about whether his Medicare plan covered leprosy drugs.

[camle]

where did he get them from? who smuggled them in? or were they given to him, by whom and why?

[theDentist]

How long had this "trial" been going on? 3 years? 5? No wonder Saddam wants to have his trial moved there.

[ClearCase_guy]

Morpheus: Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.

(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)

Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more. (Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)

[TomGuy]

Maybe the pharmacy got his and Arafat's medications mixed up.

Arafat seemed to have a similar problem with his medications.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Arkancide!!!

[NonValueAdded]

European health care model strikes again. I wonder if a planeload of attorneys is winging its way eastward.

[stm]

It's really a moot point at this stage. The only important thing is the world is free of one more murderous dicatator. I would love to be a fly on the wall at his Judgement Day.

"So, Mr. Milosivic, how about a brief accounting of your 64 years on earth. Tell me again why I should not condemn you to an eternity in hell...."

[elli1]

"I don't think he took his medicines for suicide -- only for his trip to Moscow ... that is where his friends and family are. I think that was his last possibility to escape The Hague," Uges said. "I am so sure there is no murder."

Uges said tests he conducted two weeks ago on Milosevic's blood showed traces of rifampicin -- a drug against leprosy and tuberculosis that would have neutralized other medicines.

Amazing that Uges apparently didn't express even the least amount of curiosity as to how his patient obtained the rifampicin... /s

[maggief]

Zdenko Tomanovic, legal advisor to former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, shows a letter in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday March 12, 2006, he claims was written by Milosevic the day before he was found dead in his U.N. prison cell in The Hague. Tomanovic said Milosevic's letter claimed a powerful drug used to treat leprosy or tuberculosis had been found in his blood during an examination last January. The letter and a brief cover letter in English, dated March 10, was addressed to the Russian Embassy for forwarding to the Russian foreign minister. Milosevic who orchestrated the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was on trial for war crimes, was found dead in his prison cell at the U.N. detention center near The Hague, the U.N. tribunal said in a statement. Milosevic, 64, appeared to have died of natural causes, a tribunal press officer said. Result for the autopsy to clarify the cause of death are expected Monday. (AP Photo)

[stm]

If 33% of what we heard about Milosevic was true it still puts him in the same league as Hitler, Stalin, Mussoline, Hussein and the rest,

[Fitzcarraldo]

Don't believe everything you read in the western media, particularly regarding the Balkans.

Amen

[Fitzcarraldo]

Milosevic was fighting the expansion of Islam into Europe. That's what I'll remember him for. He's a hero in my book, albiet a flawed one.

Long live Serbia!!!

[The Old Hoosier]

He was spotted in a Rite-Aid in Danville, Va arguing with the pharmicist about whether his Medicare plan covered leprosy drugs.

You owe me a new keyboard and a cup of coffee. :-)