Russian hospital says Kremlin critic Navalny tested negative for poison
5002 Mins Read
The Russian hospital which has treated opposition leader Alexei Navalny for an apparent allergic reaction says doctors did not find any traces of poison in his system.
But his personal doctor warned the findings were inconclusive and could be wrong.
Navalny, 43, was taken to hospital over the weekend but is now said to be in a satisfactory condition and has been returned to prison.
The opposition leader is serving a 30-day sentence for violating strict protest laws and calling for unauthorized demonstration in Moscow which led to the arrests of more than 1,000 people.
He was discharged on Monday and taken back into custody. He has said he believes he may have been poisoned, a suspicion shared by his lawyer and personal doctor.
A handout photo made available by navalny.com shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sitting on a bed in a hospital in Moscow, Russia, 29 July 2019 (issued 30 July 2019). Photo: EPA-EFE/navalny.com
Alexei Tokarev, head doctor at Moscow’s Sklifosovsky hospital, said on Wednesday that a toxicology test carried out on unspecified biomaterial taken from Navalny did not find any traces of poison in his system.
Navalny’s doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, however, said she believed the hospital did not have the equipment to test for all existing poisons.
She added it was unclear if various types of poison would even have shown up in a blood test conducted over a day later.
