Fake medical alcohol causes poisoning and brain damage to many people

According to the initial investigation, Tuan and his younger brother jointly established the Ngân Hà Company to produce 70-degree medical alcohol. However, for profit, Tuan instructed his employees to produce alcohol using methanol instead of ethanol (in the ratio of 30% water, 70% alcohol). This is said to be dangerous to the health of users.

For a long time, fake medical alcohol has been sold and consumed widely in the market, even fake medical alcohol has entered pharmacies. At the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital recorded many cases of emergency hospitalization due to the use of fake medical alcohol and alcohol containing methanol.

According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, the most recent case brought to the emergency room was a 55-year-old man (Hoang Mai, Hanoi ) in a coma, respiratory failure, and severe metabolic acidosis. Blood tests showed a high concentration of industrial methanol at 116.63 mg/dL and brain MRI results showed necrotic lesions of the nucleus pulposus and complications of cerebral hemorrhage.

Fake medical alcohol used by a poisoned patient was brought to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital.

According to the patient's family, the patient had no history of alcohol addiction, was in good health, and only had the habit of using medical alcohol to rinse his mouth and treat toothaches. The patient was diagnosed with methanol poisoning. The test results of the alcohol sample the patient used showed that although the label stated "70-degree ethanol", there was no ethanol, but only industrial methanol, which accounted for 77.5%.

According to relatives, the patient used “alcohol” for a long time, had an open wound in his mouth due to tooth pulp inflammation, the “alcohol” penetrated the mucosa and it is not excluded that the patient swallowed it during the process of holding it. This is the cause of the patient’s poisoning and led to a critical condition. Dr. Nguyen said that this is not a typical case, previously the Poison Control Center had received many emergency cases due to methanol poisoning when using fake medical alcohol.

In February 2023, the Center received a 46-year-old male patient from Vinh Phuc with a history of alcoholism. He bought fake medical alcohol (methanol) to drink and was subsequently poisoned. When he was taken to Bach Mai Hospital, he was in a coma and in critical condition. Despite intensive treatment, the patient died due to the severity of his condition.

A month later, the incident caused a stir in public opinion when a series of workers had to be hospitalized, in critical condition due to methanol poisoning through the respiratory tract. This incident involved 108 workers being examined, tested, and treated at the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, and Bac Ninh General Hospital, of which 37 were infected with methanol; 7 were in severe or critical condition, of which 1 person died, 4 people were expected to have severe sequelae or loss of vision, and 1 person had severe sequelae with the brain.

These workers worked for a factory that specialized in manufacturing electronic components, including a type of metal component produced from a knife cutting process. During this process, the machine sprayed ethanol to cool the cutting blade. At the same time, some components that were not clean were wiped clean with ethanol by the workers. About a week later in February, the company switched to using a new batch of ethanol. After using it, the workers began to feel tired and had headaches, so they asked to go home.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen said that the alcohol used by the company was sent for testing by a patient's family member, and the results showed that the methanol concentration was 77.83%, with no ethanol. The workers here were poisoned by methanol through the respiratory tract due to breathing air contaminated with methanol and possibly partly through the skin when the skin came into direct contact with alcohol.

The case of the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Chuc Son town producing fake medical alcohol has sounded the alarm bell because of greed and profit, disregarding ethics to produce fake goods in the medical field. According to Pham Dinh Tuan's initial statement, alcohol made from methanol is sold for 11,000 VND/500ml bottle, while alcohol made from ethanol costs only 12,000-13,000 VND/bottle of the same type.

To manage and tighten this product, experts recommend that the authorities need to strengthen inspection and strictly control the methanol chemicals that are smuggled out and sold on the market so that illegal traders can buy them to mix into fake wine and fake medical alcohol. People should be extremely vigilant when buying wine and medical alcohol only from reputable pharmacies, with alcohol bottles that have clear labels, specifications, names, and invoices.

According to cand.com.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/con-y-te-gia-khien-nhieu-nguoi-ngo-doc-ton-thuong-nao-post403450.html