Mark
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 Posted: 07/09/07 - 02:36 Post subject: Counterfeit pills purchased online killed a woman |
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A 58-year-old woman from Canada was found dead in her home December 2006. Investigations showed metal poisoning linked to ingestion of contaminated counterfeit pills bought from the notorious website.
A public warning has been issued after preliminary lab tests showed a range of trace metals in pills located in the woman’s home. High levels of metals have also been found in the woman’s liver with aluminum levels 15 times higher than normal.
The overall presence of metals in the deceased’s liver was highly toxic. Such high levels would usually cause numerous physical symptoms. In her email to a friend, the woman complained about nausea, diarrhea, aching joints and other ailments and her friends reported she was losing hair and experiencing vision problems.
Marcia Ann Bergeron, the victim, rarely saw a doctor and there were no prescriptions found in her home. However, she has been visiting Internet sites that sell medications and investigators found Zolpidem, a hypnotic drug in her home, purchased form a site previously linked to a public alert about counterfeit drugs. This drug was one of three types of pills found in the woman’s home that contained high levels of metals.
A coroner that worked on the case called the counterfeit drugs on the Internet a "complex and emerging health-care problem." |
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