Dutch doctor found unprescribed drug in Milosevic blood
A Dutch toxicologist today confirmed he found traces of an non-prescribed drug in a blood sample taken from former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic earlier this year.
Donald Uges said he was asked to examine the sample after Milosevic’s blood pressure failed to respond to medication given by doctors at the UN detention centre near The Hague, where he was being held during his war crimes trial.
Uges said he found traces of rifampicin, a drug that could have reduced the effectiveness of his other medications.
The rifampicin “makes the liver extremely active. If you’re taking something (another medication) it breaks down very quickly,” Uges said.
UN-appointed doctors examined Milosevic last November and initially concluded he had been refusing to take medicine prescribed to help his chronic hypertension, as the blood pressure was not responding.
Under orders of the judges, Milosevic was required to take his medicine under supervision, but the “pressure still didn’t come down,” said Uges, a toxicologist from University Hospital of Groningen.
He said the Dutch doctors concluded after a January 12 examination that the most likely explanation was that Milosevic was taking another drug that counteracted his blood pressure medication.
Uges said his testing, completed only two weeks ago, appeared to confirm that suspicion.
A legal aide to Slobodan Milosevic today said the late Serb leader will be buried in Belgrade.
Zdenko Tomanovic said Milosevic’s remains will be claimed by his son, Marko.
He said it was “the wishes of Milosevic’s family” that his funeral be held in the Serb capital, from where he had led his nation for 13 tumultuous years.
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