Ex-Russian spy no longer in critical condition after UK poisoning

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill




BY MAX GREENWOOD - 04/06/18 10:04 AM EDT

Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy poisoned on British soil last month, is no longer in critical condition and improving rapidly, a U.K. health official said Friday.

Dr. Christine Blanshard, the medical director at Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement that Skripal, 66, is "responding well to treatment."

Skripal, a Russian-born British citizen and his daughter, Yulia, were found slumped over on a park bench on March 4, after having been poisoned with what officials have said was a military-grade nerve agent.

They were hospitalized in critical condition. Doctors revealed last week that Yulia Skripal, 33, had awoken from a coma and was rapidly improving. She said in a statement issued earlier this week that her "strength is growing daily."

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/international/381942-former-russian-spy-no-longer-in-critical-condition-after-poisoning

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Excellent news. Looks like he will live, thus. . . . . nt

[SunSeeker]

2. Wow. That's a miracle. Thank you British hospitals! nt

[Sophia4]

3. Note: Julia Skripal is a Russian citizen.

Yet under British single payer insurance, she received excellent healthcare.

Who do you suppose is going to pay for her care?

Sometimes foreign citizens are asked to pay, and sometimes countries have reciprocal agreements to pay for each other's citizens.

I realize this is a bit off topic, but what would happen if a foreign guest had such a serious accident and had to spend weeks in the hospital here.

And let me say, I am very happy that the Skripals are recovering. What a horrible thing this poisoning was.

[lunatica]

4. I really thought the poisoning was incurable

Glad to hear they will recover. Fuck Putin.

[getagrip_already]

5. according to the scientist who developed it...

you are correct. Someone interviewed him and he said he never heard of anyone exposed recovering. He basically said you were worse than dead until you died.

It must have something to do with dosing. Apparently it was applied to a door handle, so exposure may have been low. I doubt whoever planted it wanted to kill an entire city, so they probably greatly diluted the dose.

Woops......

[stevenleser]

6. With all toxic substances, it's all in how much you took in. Standard substances have an LD50 rating

which basically says, If a group of people all ingested this specific amount of the substance, 50% of them would die. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_lethal_dose

Some folks can handle much more, some much less, depending on genetics, weight, etc.