Yushchenko returns to Vienna hospital as questions arise about his poisoining (10/03/04)

Yushchenko returns to Vienna hospital as questions arise about his poisoining

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Officials of the Vienna hospital that in mid-September treated Viktor Yushchenko for various abdominal and intestinal problems including pancreatitis, said on September 29 that they never concluded that the Ukrainian presidential candidate's various ailments were a direct result of chemical poisoning, as some media sources and members of the Yushchenko campaign team were alleging.

Dr. Lothar Wicke, official spokesman for Rudolfinerhaus Clinic, said that examination of Mr. Yushchenko by hospital doctors and tests done on him did not lead to a conclusion that he had been poisoned. Dr. Wicke added, however, that the hospital also had not excluded that a chemical substance could have caused his problems, reported Interfax-Ukraine.

Dr. Wicke spoke at a press conference specially called by officials of the Vienna hospital to address the matter of how they diagnosed and treated Mr. Yushchenko, who has said he was deliberately poisoned and has insinuated that Ukrainian state officials may be to blame. Hospital President Michael Zimpfer said that to offer the simple conclusion that Mr. Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned did not correspond to the facts as gathered by the hospital.

A statement issued by Mr. Zimpfer's office the previous day noted: "Certain people distorted the conclusion on Yushchenko's condition, as a result of which the reputation and professional level of the personnel working at the hospital were put under threat."

In response to remarks made by Rudolfinerhaus Clinic officials, Mr. Yushchenko's press secretary, Iryna Heraschenko, explained on September 29 that the presidential candidate and his team understood that "only a criminal investigation and not physicians could provide answers to questions regarding the poisoning attempt made on Viktor Yushchenko's life on September 6."

Ms. Heraschenko issued a statement in which she pointed out that the presidential candidate's discharge papers, which were issued upon his release from Rudolfinerhaus Clinic on September 18, expressly stated the possibility of a chemical poisoning as the cause of Mr. Yushchenko's various maladies. She quoted wording found in the paperwork, which stated: "the patient's poor general condition and alimentary status has likely been caused by a severe viral infection and by chemical agents that are not normally contained in food."

According to Ms. Heraschenko, the resulting medical diagnosis made by the team of doctors, as noted on the discharge papers, was such: "Acute pancreatitis with second-degree interstitial hydropic changes and numerous concurrent diagnoses, namely second degree reflux-esophagitis, acute left-sided proctocolitis, atypical polysegmentary viral skin disease, peripheral paresis and left-sided otitis."

Ms. Heraschenko's statement added, "We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the diagnosis made by such a reputable hospital."

The latest controversy in a pre-election season that has turned even more cynical since it started began a day after Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Chairman Ihor Smeshko appeared before an ad hoc parliamentary commission investigating allegations of Mr. Yushchenko's poisoning and acknowledged that he had met with the presidential candidate on the evening that he became ill. He underscored that the dinner meeting was arranged at Mr. Yushchenko's behest.

"Resolving this matter is a point of honor for the SBU," Mr. Smeshko said, noting that some progress in the investigation had already been made. He did not explain, however, why the Procurator General's Office had turned the investigation over to the security apparatus for more than a week after it had initiated it, before once again assuming responsibility for it on September 26.

Mr. Yushchenko was transported by air from Kyiv to Vienna on September 9 after stomach flu-like symptoms did not respond to treatment and continued to worsen. At Rudolfinerhaus he was treated for a variety of ailments by a team of 12 doctors, including one Ukrainian doctor.

Dr. Mykola Korpan, one of the 12 doctors who looked after Mr. Yushchenko during his week-long stay at Rudolfinerhaus and who retains an apartment in Kyiv, became the central source of information for the Ukrainian press after the hospital refused to issue statements regarding their foreign VIP guest, noting that it was not its custom to do so.

It was Dr. Korpan who noted that chemical poisoning was very possible because of the "atypical" manner in which the various maladies that Mr. Yushchenko was suffering from had developed. However, Dr. Korpan, who was not invited to take part in the press conference at Rudolfinerhaus on September 29, also had pointed out that no alien chemical substances were found in blood tests done on the presidential candidate. He had underscored that this was expected, inasmuch as the body removes foreign substances within about 48 hours, while Mr. Yushchenko had been brought in more than 96 hours after the onset of his symptoms.

Mr. Yushchenko, who had returned to the campaign trail immediately after being released on September 18, again curtailed his workload beginning September 27 after having more trouble with his health. Kyiv doctors who have treated him in the last days had noticed that he was not regaining his health and strength as quickly as had been expected. Doctors from Rudolfinerhaus Clinic had invited Mr. Yushchenko to return to Vienna for more treatment, Interfax-Ukraine reported, quoting a Yushchenko official, but the invitation was extended before the September 29 press conference in Vienna.

In response, on September 28 doctors from Rudolfinerhaus Clinic invited Mr. Yushchenko to return to Vienna for more treatment. Mr. Yuschenko checked back into the hospital on September 30.

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