A patient was poisoned by rat poison that has been banned for many years.

According to information from the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital, the Center has just received a 21-year-old female patient from Ha Nam , with symptoms of deep coma, severe convulsions of the whole body, convulsions of limbs, vomiting, and rapid progression to severe hypotension, myocardial damage, hypocalcemia, cardiogenic shock, severe heart failure, arrhythmia, pulmonary edema, and kidney failure.

As soon as the patient was admitted, doctors immediately performed emergency resuscitation measures, used high doses of cardiovascular support drugs, performed blood filtration, and controlled seizures.

Patient poisoned by drinking rat poison (Photo source: Bach Mai Hospital).

According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen - Director of the Poison Control Center, the patient's family said that at around 5:00 a.m. on February 6, the family discovered the patient in a state of convulsions, with eyes wide open, incontinent, and next to him was a red tube of medicine suspected to be rat poison.

The patient's heart and brain were severely damaged, the heart rate was very fast and the heart beat very weak, losing almost all tone. The patient was sad, the family suspected suicide.

With typical symptoms of poisoning, the unlabeled pink plastic tube, along with the patient's urine test finding the rat poison fluoroacetate, the patient was diagnosed with fluoroacetate rat poison poisoning.

The fluoroacetate/fluoroacetamide rat poison comes in small plastic or glass tubes containing pink, colorless, or brown solutions, or pink rice packets, all without labels or in Chinese, and when the Poison Control Center asked for a translation, there was no information about the chemicals inside.

This is a type of rat poison that is extremely toxic to the cardiovascular system and the nervous system, causing convulsions, coma, severe brain damage, myocardial damage, acute heart failure, arrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, with the typical manifestation being hypocalcemia. Severe poisoning can cause damage and multiple organ failure.

This chemical was responsible for the majority of rat poison poisoning deaths in the 1990s and early 2000s, with a very high fatality rate.

The rat poison fluoroacetate/fluoroacetamide has been banned in both Vietnam and China for many years.

Chinese rat poison is currently banned from sale on the market (photo source Bach Mai Hospital).

However, in recent years, this chemical has been sold again at uncontrolled pesticide sales points, street vendors, on the internet, especially social networking sites, and has caused many cases of severe poisoning, some of which have resulted in death.

In the case of the female patient mentioned above, her family was in difficult circumstances and had no health insurance. Her family repeatedly asked to go home to die. However, the doctors convinced her family to let her stay for treatment. At the same time, they mobilized sponsorship and received support from the sponsor for blood filters (worth about 30 million VND).

The patient's condition was very serious, there was a period when it seemed unlikely that he would survive, however, he gradually improved and is currently recovering well, conscious again, with a stable cardiovascular condition and has had the endotracheal tube removed, breathing on his own with partial oxygen support, requiring further treatment but with a positive prognosis.

The Poison Control Center recommends that when purchasing pesticides in general, you must buy them at a pesticide store or a registered facility.

Only buy products that are registered for domestic circulation and have a clear origin. When buying, there must be full and clear information about the chemicals.

Use rat poison far and away from living areas, eating and drinking places, especially away from food, drinking water, and away from children (children cannot reach or open it).

Families with mentally ill or confused members should not keep toxic chemicals in their homes.

Do not stockpile toxic chemicals, including rat poison, at home. For regulatory agencies: strictly manage rat poison products, prohibit the sale and use of this type of rat poison, and strictly handle violators.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/mot-benh-nhan-ngo-doc-thuoc-diet-chuot-da-bi-cam-luu-hanh-nhieu-nam-post235841.html