The number of deaths after a gastrophagy procedure using barium sulfate at a St. Petersburg medical center has increased to eight, one of the victims reported. According to her, earlier cases are now included in the general list of victims - those who died in December 2021. Relatives of the deceased, in turn, say that the health committee ignores them, and that they do not know anything about the payments announced by the city government to the victims.

“Half of the clinic was aware”

The investigation of the criminal case on the mass poisoning of patients after an X-ray of the stomach with contrast in the City Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 1 (CDC) continues. Initially, only the latest cases that occurred in January were included in the number of victims, but after it became known that the poisonings began in December, the list was expanded.

As the victim in the case, Victoria, whose mother died on December 23, 2021 after a procedure at the medical center on Siqueiros, said, the investigation announced eight dead and announces that arrests in the clinic will continue soon.

“I was interrogated on February 2, we are actively cooperating with the investigation. All deaths were included in the investigation. In the seven listed cases of death, ours is also present. The UK is still checking other cases. The investigator told me that there are now eight real dead, while this figure was not disclosed anywhere.

Also, law enforcement officers are now planning to arrest several more suspects, because half of the clinic was aware that the barium was counterfeit,” she said.

On February 18, it became known that the administration of St. Petersburg would pay financial compensation to the victims and relatives of the deceased - the families of the dead - 1 million rubles each, victims, in case of disability, 500 thousand rubles, and in case of harm to health - 300 thousand rubles.

Despite this, no one from the authorities has contacted Victoria and other victims so far. They did not apologize at the clinic either.

“No one has contacted us yet, let's see how it will be further. If the silence continues, then we will ask the administration of St. Petersburg how things will progress. This does not preclude that we intend to file a claim for damages. As the investigator told me, it is quite possible that the clinic will become the defendant, ”the girl noted.

According to her, during the investigation it became known that a batch of counterfeit barium was purchased by the clinic back in July 2021. Moreover, the laboratory assistant who took the substance drew attention to its quality and signaled this to the higher authorities, but the issue was never resolved - the drug was used for medical purposes.

A new turn in the case was the possible involvement of ambulance workers in the tragedy. As Victoria emphasized, the investigation is now also checking them.

According to her, the question of the investigation is why the members of the ambulance team did not respond properly to the complaints of patients - it is quite possible that if they were promptly hospitalized in the toxicology department, many could be saved. Instead, according to Victoria, the doctors brushed it aside and said that there could be no barium poisoning.

“I turned to the district investigation department about the actions of the ambulance. Then the head physician called me and in a sweet voice invited me to receive the documents. I came and they gave me a record of the actions of the workers, in addition to the paper on hospitalization. When I demanded it, they stated that they had a written refusal (of the deceased patient) from hospitalization. I wrote an application for a copy of the refusal and, when I receive it, I will definitely check the handwriting for compliance, ”she added.

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Her 75-year-old mother, Lyudmila, with suspected gastritis, was sent to the center to a gastroenterologist, who immediately sent her for an X-ray with contrast - the procedure was scheduled for 9.30 am on December 24, 2021.

“We called her a taxi, she went. Since we did not think it was dangerous, I called my mother only at 12.00 - it was immediately clear from her voice that she was ill. She said that she was very ill, sitting at the bus stop. She explained what procedure she was undergoing, that she drank barium. After the procedure, she immediately became ill, she still started to vomit there, ”she shared with.

At the very center, the patients reacted coolly to this condition - they told her that there was nothing wrong with her condition and that she could go home.

Anna's mother that her whole body ached, it became difficult for her to breathe and blood appeared in her vomit.“When my mother came home, I called her an ambulance. She said that there was an x-ray with contrast and she was ill. The ambulance arrived, and I was 40 minutes later - the doctors were still at home and were waiting for me to find people who would help my mother load into the carriage. They didn’t ask me anything, didn’t specify anything, and my mother was constantly vomiting, ”Anna noted.

The pensioner was taken to the Elizabethan Hospital, one of the largest in the city. They promised to call Anna immediately after her mother was examined by a doctor. However, no one called her back in the near future, and an hour later the woman herself decided to find out what was happening. Initially, Anna was told that her mother had not yet been admitted to the hospital.

“After some more time, they said that their mother was being examined and asked to call back in another two hours. I called back and they told me that she was assigned to surgery. To my question: “Why?”, I was told that they would not comment on this over the phone. I got ready and went to the hospital, ”Anna recalled.

As a result, the woman was not allowed into the territory of the hospital - they referred to restrictions due to the epidemiological situation. Anna wrote an appeal through the site, and she was advised to bring her things the next day. So she did, but she was never given any information about her mother.

“I was told that my mother would receive things at 12.00, and I handed them over at 11.00. To find out at least something, they sent me to the emergency room, but again no one helped there. I returned home and from 12.00 I started calling my mother. At first the phone was unavailable, and then it turned on, but no one picked up the phone, ”the woman specified.

In the hospital, Anna was again unable to answer questions, and in parallel with this, her sister, who lives in Kamchatka, called the morgue at the medical facility.

It turned out that the pensioner had died during the night, and her daughter was informed of her death only around 2 pm.

“I still don’t know what my mother was treated for. But I initially assumed that all this was due to barium. In the very center they said that my mother must have been ill with something. After it became known about other cases, I turned to the Investigative Committee and we included the number of victims, ”Anna emphasized.

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A nurse tried to commit suicide

Recall that on January 26, it became known about the death of patients of the institution after gastrophagy with the use of barium sulfate. Criminal cases were initiated under the articles “Causing death by negligence” and “Provision of unsafe services”. Later, the UK reported that the drug used during the deadly procedure was most likely counterfeit.

Barium was supplied to the medical center on Siqueiros by Neva Reaktiv LLC. The organization stated that they indeed supplied barium sulfate to a medical institution, which is used only for industrial (technical) purposes. The supply contracts did not indicate that the clinic plans to use it in gastrophagy.

Two days after the incident, law enforcement officers detained the first defendant in the case, the head physician of the medical facility Yevgeny Popov, who will remain in custody until at least March 26.

According to the investigators, it was Popov who approved the application for the purchase from Neva Reaktiv LLC of the drug Barium Sulfate 0.10 (H2O)%, which is not included in the state register of medicines and cannot be used for medical purposes.

On the website of the UK, an advertisement was placed on the search for patients who underwent this procedure and suffered - it later turned out that barium poisoning began in December. On February 7, Elena Medvedeva, head of the radiology department, was arrested. Two days later, the deputy head doctor Alexandra Feofanova and the head of the X-ray room Natalya Surovenko were sent to the pre-trial detention center.

Among the accused was the head nurse of CDC No. 1, Marina Efremova, wrote “New. On February 2, a preventive measure was chosen for the woman in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the country. And the next day, she tried to commit suicide - now she is in intensive care in a state of medically induced coma, on a ventilator. Doctors don't make predictions.

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