No proof Yushchenko was poisoned, say experts

EXPERTS trying to figure out why Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko fell seriously ill during the country’s presidential campaign are testing a number of poisoning theories but have no conclusive evidence he was poisoned, doctors said today.

Yushchenko, whose formerly smooth skin has turned ashen and pockmarked since he fell ill in September, has alleged that Ukrainian authorities poisoned him - an allegation they deny.

Doctors are still running tests to try to determine what caused the illness, said Dr. Michael Zimpfer, the director of the private Rudolfinerhaus clinic.

“We are still investigating the hypothesis of poisoning,” Zimpfer said. “However, we have not found any indication that a chemical or biological substance has been employed. Also, we are following new threads and (have) included other labs to do more specific testing.”

Yushchenko suffered from a series of symptoms, including back pain, acute pancreatitis and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face.

“He was very ill but there was no immediate danger to his life,” Zimpfer told reporters.

Doctors have only “a descriptive diagnosis” but no proof of what caused the illness, Zimpfer said, adding it could have had internal causes or have been sparked by a poison.

“It might also have been a combination of poisons. Everything is in the air,” he said.

Making the mystery even more difficult to solve was Yushchenko’s refusal to let doctors take biopsies of his facial tissue, and the four-day delay between the outbreak of the disease and his arrival at the hospital, Zimpfer said. Doctors later received some tissue samples, he added.

The Times today quoted Dr. Nikolai Korpan, the Rudolfinerhaus physician who oversaw Yushchenko’s treatment, as saying that Yushchenko had been poisoned and the intention was to kill the candidate.

Korpan initially denied the report but later said he had spoken with the Times.

Speaking alongside Zimpfer, he said doctors were working on three different poisoning theories. But “we don’t have any evidence of what caused the illness,” he said.

A doctor treating Yushchenko, Lothar Wicke, has been put under police protection after receiving an anonymous threat. No details have been released.