Berlin Charite hospital said in a statement on Monday that its data indicated Alexei Navalny was probably intoxicated by a substance in the cholinesterase inhibitors group of chemicals, but that it had not yet identified a precise substance.
The effects of such a chemical on Navalny had been “shown several times and in separate laboratories,” the hospital said. Cholinesterase inhibitors are found in several drugs, but also pesticides and nerve agents.
Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Berlin on Saturday via a German-operated flight to receive treatment and has been in a coma for several days.
”The patient is in an intensive care unit and is still in an induced coma. His health is serious but there is currently no acute danger to his life,” Charite hospital said. Doctors are currently treating Navalny with the antidote atropine.
But doubts remain about the 44-year-old’s health in the future. “The outcome of the disease remains uncertain and after effects, especially in the area of the nervous system, cannot be excluded at this time,” the hospital statement read.
Under police protection
Earlier on Monday, the German government had said that Navalny was likely poisoned and confirmed that he was under police protection. ”It was obvious that after his arrival, protective precautions had to be taken,” Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert said.
Read more: The German NGO behind Alexei Navalny’s rescue
Berlin police and federal agents are both providing security for the Russian opposition figure at Charite hospital, which is located in downtown Berlin.
The government of Russia has not yet commented on the Navalny’s health status or allegations that he was poisoned made prior to Charite’s statement.
Russian doctors on Monday said two laboratories found no poisonous substances in his system. ”If we had found poisoning confirmed by something, it would have been much easier for us,” said Anatoly Kalinichecnko, deputy chief doctor of the Omsk Ambulance Hospital No. 1, where Navalny was initially treated.
The hospital’s chief doctor, Alexander Murakhovsky, has denied allegations that doctors in Omsk may have been acting in coordination with Russia’s security services to keep the poisoning hidden.
jcg/msh (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Ranked Germany’s top hospital
Berlin Charite was established in 1710 as a center for plague patients and 100 years later it grew to house a medical university. From then on, its campus has handled patients as well as research students. More than half of Germany’s Nobel Prize winners for medicine or physiology worked at the hospital.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Reputation damaged during Nazi era
During the Nazi regime, many physicians from Charite were involved in ethical crimes related to medicine. The Charite hospital was also responsible for autopsies on Jewish suicide victims and the executed resistance fighters of July 20th. After the war, the hospital fell under the jurisdiction of the German Democratic Republic, as it was located in East Berlin.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Temporary Ebola hub
Berlin Charite became a European care hub during the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa in 2015. A South Korean medic, who was working in Sierra Leone and became infected with the virus, was flown to Berlin for treatment. The patient was sent to Berlin at the request of the South Korean government, which said his anonymity would be better kept there.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Lead role in coronavirus crisis
Charite was the first hospital to detect a locally transmitted coronavirus infection in Germany, back in March. Since then, it has gained prominence as Christian Drosten, director of Charite’s Institute of Virology, has played a public role in policy during the COVID-19 health crisis and been a scientific voice during the pandemic, through his many public appearances and weekly podcast.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Notable politician patients
The hospital has attracted international attention by offering support to prominent international politicians. In March 2014, Ukrainian opposition politician and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko was treated at Charite. She suffered a total of three slipped discs, which she had acquired during her two and a half years imprisonment.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Poisoned Russian activist
In 2018, Pyotr Verzilov, an associate of the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot and staunch Vladimir Putin critic was flown from Moscow to Berlin, after showing symptoms of poisoning. Charité head doctor Kai-Uwe Eckardt treated the activist. Verzilov’s case is said to have set the precedent for Alexei Navalny’s supporters to consider Berlin for his treatment.
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Berlin Charite: The storied history of the hospital treating Alexei Navalny
Navalny the latest high-profile patient
Vladimir Putin critic and prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was flown to Charite Berlin from a hospital in Omsk, Russia, to be treated for suspected poisoning. The activist traveled on a chartered flight paid for by the NGO Cinema for Peace. Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those who pushed for a speedy transfer for Navalny to Germany.
Author: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-hospital-says-alexei-navalny-was-likely-poisoned/a-54679649?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom