Ukraine opposition leader poisoned?

VIENNA, Austria—As Ukraine's popular opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko claimed victory yesterday in hotly contested presidential elections, mystery continued to shroud an appearance-altering illness that twice prompted him to check into a Vienna hospital.

Adding to the intrigue, the Austrian doctors who treated him sought police protection, and asked foreign experts to help determine if his symptoms had been caused by toxins found in biological weapons.

Medical experts said they might never know for sure what caused the dramatic change in Yushchenko's appearance since he first sought treatment at Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic on Sept. 10.

Known for his ruggedly handsome, almost movie-star looks, Yushchenko's complexion is now grayish and pockmarked. His face is haggard, swollen and partially paralyzed. One eye often tears up.

By the time Yushchenko checked out of the clinic last month after returning for follow-up treatment, physicians said they could neither prove nor disprove whether he had been poisoned.

Dr. Nikolai Korpan, who oversaw Yushchenko's treatment in Vienna, said the cause of his illness remained "totally open."

At Rudolfinerhaus, Yushchenko underwent a week of intensive treatment for several illnesses, including acute pancreatitis, a viral skin disease and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face, Korpan said.

Clinic director Michael Zimpfer said doctors were unable to explain some of Yushchenko's symptoms and could not rule out stress or a viral infection.

Yushchenko's doctors in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, said they had determined that "chemicals not of a food origin" had triggered the illness.

Zimpfer and the clinic's chief physician, Dr. Lothar Wicke — who requested police protection after receiving an anonymous threat while treating Yushchenko — later asked for outside help from "a specialist in military operations and biological weapons," the Austria Press Agency reported.

Earlier this month, Volodymyr Syvkovych, head of a 15-member Ukrainian parliamentary commission that investigated the mysterious illness, said a forensic medical examination found no traces of "any biological weapons" in Yushchenko's blood, nails, hair or urine.

Yushchenko has ridiculed the notion circulated by political opponents that he simply ate a bad plate of sushi washed down with too much cognac.

Ukraine: Doctors Debate Whether Opposition Leader Was Poisoned
By Jeremy Bransten Radio Free Europe 24 September 2004

Ukraine -- Yushchenko, ex-PM Viktor
Viktor Yushchenko
Ukraine's presidential campaign received much attention earlier this month after the leading opposition candidate, former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, came down with a mystery illness. After treatment at a Vienna clinic, Yushchenko returned to the campaign, accusing the authorities of trying to poison him. Some of his supporters are claiming Yushchenko was the victim of an intentional poisoning with ricin -- one of the deadliest toxins known to man. The highly emotional debate is mostly fueled by politicians ahead of the 31 October poll. But what do the doctors conclude?

Prague, 24 September 2004 (RFE/RL) -- To Yushchenko, the cause of his recent health scare is clear, as he told parliamentary deputies in Kyiv on 21 September.

"Look at my face, listen to my [poor] articulation. These are just small indications of the problem I had. What happened to me is not a problem of food or my eating habits. It is a problem of the political regime in this country," Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko's health worries began on 5 September, when the former prime minister began to fall sick. Five days later, he was transported to a private clinic in Vienna, Rudolfinerhaus. By this time he was gravely ill, with a whole range of baffling symptoms.

Nikolai Korpan was Yushchenko's chief physician in Vienna. He describes the symptoms in a telephone interview with RFE/RL.

"He had acute pancreatitis [inflammation of the pancreas], he had acute gastritis, he had acute proctocolitis, acute myositis [eds: muscle inflammation], acute paralysis of the facial nerve and he was [describing] different pain symptoms, for example in the area of the abdominal cavity and the thorax cavity, the breast cavity," Korpan says.

Korpan told RFE/RL the combination of symptoms made Yushchenko's case particularly challenging to diagnose.

"This case is not a typical case in medicine. It's an atypical case. It is seldom that one observes in clinical practice complex acute diseases combined with neurological signs," Korpan says.

Korpan says a total of 20 specialists, ranging from neurologists to dermatologists, worked on Yushchenko's case. Under their care, Yushchenko's health rapidly improved. But the doctors were never able to establish a precise diagnosis.

Korpan says his patient could have suffered from an unidentified viral infection or something more sinister -- like intentional poisoning. He excludes the possibility of accidental food poisoning.

"We can say that maybe [the illness] could [have been caused by a] special atypical agent, but not simple food or drink," Korpan says.

Korpan says blood tests were unable to determine the nature of the atypical agent or virus.

"We sent blood for different special analyses and we received the answer that after 96 hours after the beginning of the [illness], it's not possible to confirm the special agent in the blood," Korpan says.

Yushchenko, upon his release from the clinic, said the doctors' statements proved he had been intentionally poisoned. In fact, the Viennese doctors left this open as a possibility, but reached no definitive conclusions.

For another view, RFE/RL spoke by telephone with Dr. Marc Siegel in New York. Siegel, an associate professor at New York University's School of Medicine, is a specialist in internal medicine and has written for "The New York Times", "The Washington Post," and other U.S. publications on health issues.

First, Siegel says Yushchenko's symptoms, as described by Dr. Korpan, do not sound like ricin poisoning, which usually involves significant respiratory problems.

Siegel also disputes the idea that food poisoning could be ruled out in Yushchenko's case -- especially if no final diagnosis was ever established.

"I'm going to say two things: one, I don't see how, without knowing exactly what this is, they can say for certain that he wasn't poisoned [by his food]. And two, I think that there are certain bacteria that you can get by eating bad food that can give you multi-system involvement," Siegel says.

Siegel says there are many bacteria, for example, "e-coli" and salmonella, that frequently cause food poisoning. He says these can produce a wide array of dramatic symptoms and affect many organs at once.

"These bacteria make toxins -- campylobacter especially -- that can affect many organs beyond just the [gastrointestinal tract], so I'm not hearing anything to make me convinced this isn't food poisoning," Siegel says.

Siegel says the fact that made a relatively quick recovery, indicates his illness may have been virus.

"When he [got] better, it could be because a virus tends to get better untreated. There is no cure for a virus. Some respond to anti-viral therapy, like influenza does. But most viruses just run their course, so the fact that he got better does speak to the possibility of a full-blown viral illness," Siegel says.

Siegel finds it hard to understand why the blood tests were so inconclusive. He takes issue with the contention that it was just too late for the blood tests to reveal anything.
"What happened to me is not a problem of food or my eating habits. It is a problem of the political regime in this country."

"Well, I don't think that is so! In terms of testing for viruses, it's a perfect time to test. You're talking about serology. What you do is you test for the presence of antigens and antibodies in the blood, antibodies to a particular virus. Ninety-six hours [after the onset of illness] is exactly when you would expect to find it. So I don't think that 96 hours out would be a time when you could exclude a virus, I think it's when you would exactly diagnose a virus. And, as far as toxins that might have been introduced into the system, I certainly don't think that they would have cleared the system in 96 hours either. Most toxins are not metabolized that quickly. So it's puzzling to me that in terms of forensics, they couldn't try to track this down," Siegel says.

There is, however, one other possible explanation, although it sounds too simple to be true: the flu. Siegel says there are some viruses whose presence is sometimes impossible to confirm through blood analysis. Among the leading culprits are influenza strains.

Yep... not many people have heard of it. I just heard someone mention it on a thread a few weeks ago and read up on it. There are varying accounts of course.

It's the Kiev connection that is so strange...

Ivan Ribkin "disappeared" for 5 days just after turning in enough signatures (2 MILLION SIGS) to be put on Russia's ballot. The day he was "abducted" he had sent a letter to the state media complaining that reports of his signatures being invalid were wrong, saying the signature sheets they were showing to prove it were not his but Putin's (referencing the birthdate at the top of the forms).

Rybkin is the former head of the Duma under Boris Yeltsin. He is the leader of the Liberal party in Russia who has seen 2 of their leaders assasinated over the years.

The state officials refused to act on a missing person's report filed by Ribkin's wife the day after his diappearance.

Journalists quoted those in Putin's campaign as saying that they were confident he would reappear. There was also apparently a suggestive remark that he was at a Sanitarium owned by the President. That was proved untrue. Then there was another report he was at a vacation resort. Also proved untrue...

5 days after his disappearance he resurfaced on his own with a story that he had gone to visit some friends in, of all places, Kiev. (Mind you he didn't bother informing even his wife he was leaving, or anyone on his campaign staff. And there are some statements that he had left personal items behind although they don't say what these items were. (I'm thinking keys, wallet, stuff like that))

After he resurfaced he made vague remarks about being drugged, and possibly deciding to withdraw from the race. Here is what the ChinaDaily quoted his comments being when he resurfaced in Moscow...

Missing Russian Candidate Resurfaces
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/11/content_305203.htm

Rybkin, a longshot liberal challenger to President Vladimir Putin, phoned campaign manager Kseniya Ponomaryova on Tuesday to say he was in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. He said he'd gone there to chill out for a few days and would return that night to Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

Instead, he arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo-1 airport and in brief comments to reporters, he said nothing about going to Kiev for a break. Instead, the politician made subdued, vague statements that appeared to indicate his absence was not an action of his own will.

"Such despotism is not like anything I have seen or experienced in 15 years of political life," he said.

Rybkin, who has pushed for the Kremlin to negotiate with Chechen rebels, said he was returning "as if I had been in a difficult round of Chechen negotiations. I'm very satisfied that I returned."

Asked whether "other outcomes" had been possible, he said, "I don't know, there probably were," hinting that he might not have returned. On the prospect of withdrawing from the March 14 presidential race he said, "Yes, I am considering it." He did not say why.
< snip>

Here is a later article after Rybkin started speaking out about what happened to him...

Russian candidate: I was drugged and kidnapped
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-14 11:04

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/14/content_306087.htm

Russian presidential hopeful Ivan Rybkin caused more confusion Friday by saying he had been drugged and filmed in a "disgusting" video in Ukraine during the five days he went missing without explanation.
< snip >

Here is an article from the St. Petersburg Times:
Rybkin Disappearance Baffling
http://www.sptimesrussia.com/archive/times/942/news/n_11655.htm

There are more, and I don't like quoting a Chinese press source, but they are the most detailed after doing a quick Google for sources.

Interesting, eh???

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