Spoetnik
27-03-05, 09:37
I received death threats, says doctor who denied that Ukrainian leader was poisoned
By Bojan Pancevski in Vienna
(Filed: 27/03/2005)
A senior doctor ousted from the Vienna clinic where Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian president, was treated for dioxin poisoning, claims that his life was threatened after he cast doubt on the diagnosis.
Dr Lothar Wicke, the former clinical director at the Rudolfinerhaus, said that the clinic came under intense pressure from Mr Yushchenko's entourage to diagnose poisoning, even when there was no apparent evidence.
Dr Wicke told The Telegraph that, as the crime writer Agatha Christie liked to point out, there was "no murder without a corpse, and no poisoning without poison".
Mr Yushchenko, 50, first claimed that he had been poisoned in September last year. He suffered severe stomach pains and disfiguring facial lesions while campaigning in Ukraine's bitterly fought presidential election against Viktor Yanukovych, the rival pro-Kremlin candidate.
At the time, doctors believed that his symptoms may have been caused by food-poisoning or a mysterious virus. On September 9, Mr Yushchenko checked into the prestigious clinic in Austria. Initially, it could not confirm the cause but in December, it backed the poison theory.
Speculation that the politician was the victim of a dirty tricks campaign helped him to victory in the elections on December 26.
Dr Wicke remains uncomfortable about the role played by the Rudolfinerhaus in the drama. "The first two times Mr Yushchenko was examined, there was no evidence of poisoning whatsoever," Dr Wicke, 64, said. Yet, to his dismay, persistent leaks from the clinic suggested that the politician had indeed been poisoned.
Dr Wicke said: "I was directly involved, and I can tell you that the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna did not find any traces of poisonous agents in his blood. If there is no poison, there cannot be poisoning and there was no trace of it whatsoever."
He made his feelings public at the end of September, shortly before Mr Yushchenko made a second trip to Vienna for further tests. Dr Wicke told reporters that a "medically forged diagnosis" had been circulated by someone "not permanently employed in this clinic". This was taken to refer to Nikolai Korpan, a Ukrainian-born surgeon who had been treating the politician in Vienna.
Three days later, Dr Wicke received a written request from Dr Michael Zimpfer, the president of the clinic's supervisory board, to retract his remarks.
Dr Wicke marked the memo with the word "Acknowledged". It was after this that a man speaking accented English rang Dr Wicke and introduced himself as "a friend from the Ukraine". He said the man told him to "take care. Your life is in danger". Dr Wicke and his family were then put under 24-hour police guard.
Behind the scenes, Mr Yushchenko's repeated visits to the clinic had caused turmoil, said Dr Wicke, who had worked there for 25 years and was awarded the Cross of Honour First Class for Science and Art by the late Austrian president, Thomas Klestil, last year.
At one point, members of the politician's entourage tussled with Austrian police who were trying to confiscate Mr Yushchenko's medical records at the behest of a Ukrainian parliamentary commission investigating the case.
Dr Wicke is now suing the Rudolfinerhaus for substantial damages. He claims that he was forced out of his job for refusing to go along with the poisoning diagnosis.
Dr Wicke declined to speak at length about the dismissal case but asked if his dismissal was linked to the Yushchenko case, he said: "I will restrain from commenting but, given the facts, you will certainly not find it difficult to make your own conclusion.
"The official announcement said I left of my own free will but that wasn't the case."
He also declined to comment on speculation that Mr Yushchenko was actually suffering from stress and that he was treated by American doctors. It is also thought that the clinic in Vienna might have been used as a smokescreen.
"It was announced during Yushchenko's third visit to Vienna that he had been poisoned but I had been removed from the case by then. I don't know what evidence was taken into consideration," Dr Wicke said.
Dr Korpan said last week that several international laboratories had confirmed that Mr Yuschenko had been poisoned. "There is a reason why Dr Wicke disputed the poisoning diagnosis but it is not a medical one. It will be revealed later," he said. "I can only say that the whole thing is worth writing a book about."
The Rudolfinerhaus refused to comment before Dr Wicke's case is heard on Tuesday.
http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/27/wukr27.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/27/ixworld.html
By Bojan Pancevski in Vienna
(Filed: 27/03/2005)
A senior doctor ousted from the Vienna clinic where Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian president, was treated for dioxin poisoning, claims that his life was threatened after he cast doubt on the diagnosis.
Dr Lothar Wicke, the former clinical director at the Rudolfinerhaus, said that the clinic came under intense pressure from Mr Yushchenko's entourage to diagnose poisoning, even when there was no apparent evidence.
Dr Wicke told The Telegraph that, as the crime writer Agatha Christie liked to point out, there was "no murder without a corpse, and no poisoning without poison".
Mr Yushchenko, 50, first claimed that he had been poisoned in September last year. He suffered severe stomach pains and disfiguring facial lesions while campaigning in Ukraine's bitterly fought presidential election against Viktor Yanukovych, the rival pro-Kremlin candidate.
At the time, doctors believed that his symptoms may have been caused by food-poisoning or a mysterious virus. On September 9, Mr Yushchenko checked into the prestigious clinic in Austria. Initially, it could not confirm the cause but in December, it backed the poison theory.
Speculation that the politician was the victim of a dirty tricks campaign helped him to victory in the elections on December 26.
Dr Wicke remains uncomfortable about the role played by the Rudolfinerhaus in the drama. "The first two times Mr Yushchenko was examined, there was no evidence of poisoning whatsoever," Dr Wicke, 64, said. Yet, to his dismay, persistent leaks from the clinic suggested that the politician had indeed been poisoned.
Dr Wicke said: "I was directly involved, and I can tell you that the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna did not find any traces of poisonous agents in his blood. If there is no poison, there cannot be poisoning and there was no trace of it whatsoever."
He made his feelings public at the end of September, shortly before Mr Yushchenko made a second trip to Vienna for further tests. Dr Wicke told reporters that a "medically forged diagnosis" had been circulated by someone "not permanently employed in this clinic". This was taken to refer to Nikolai Korpan, a Ukrainian-born surgeon who had been treating the politician in Vienna.
Three days later, Dr Wicke received a written request from Dr Michael Zimpfer, the president of the clinic's supervisory board, to retract his remarks.
Dr Wicke marked the memo with the word "Acknowledged". It was after this that a man speaking accented English rang Dr Wicke and introduced himself as "a friend from the Ukraine". He said the man told him to "take care. Your life is in danger". Dr Wicke and his family were then put under 24-hour police guard.
Behind the scenes, Mr Yushchenko's repeated visits to the clinic had caused turmoil, said Dr Wicke, who had worked there for 25 years and was awarded the Cross of Honour First Class for Science and Art by the late Austrian president, Thomas Klestil, last year.
At one point, members of the politician's entourage tussled with Austrian police who were trying to confiscate Mr Yushchenko's medical records at the behest of a Ukrainian parliamentary commission investigating the case.
Dr Wicke is now suing the Rudolfinerhaus for substantial damages. He claims that he was forced out of his job for refusing to go along with the poisoning diagnosis.
Dr Wicke declined to speak at length about the dismissal case but asked if his dismissal was linked to the Yushchenko case, he said: "I will restrain from commenting but, given the facts, you will certainly not find it difficult to make your own conclusion.
"The official announcement said I left of my own free will but that wasn't the case."
He also declined to comment on speculation that Mr Yushchenko was actually suffering from stress and that he was treated by American doctors. It is also thought that the clinic in Vienna might have been used as a smokescreen.
"It was announced during Yushchenko's third visit to Vienna that he had been poisoned but I had been removed from the case by then. I don't know what evidence was taken into consideration," Dr Wicke said.
Dr Korpan said last week that several international laboratories had confirmed that Mr Yuschenko had been poisoned. "There is a reason why Dr Wicke disputed the poisoning diagnosis but it is not a medical one. It will be revealed later," he said. "I can only say that the whole thing is worth writing a book about."
The Rudolfinerhaus refused to comment before Dr Wicke's case is heard on Tuesday.
http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/27/wukr27.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/27/ixworld.html