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A simple chemical may have caused the recent spate of unexplained deaths of
patients on dialysis machines. Tests done by US dialyser manufacturer Baxter
suggest that a perfluorohydrocarbon used in one of its factories in Ronneby,
Sweden might have caused fatal air bubbles to form in the patients’ hearts. The
fluid was thought to be non-toxic and is used to test the dialysis filters for
leaks. But renal researchers working for Baxter found that an injection of just
160 microlitres of the liquid was enough to kill a rabbit. Baxter has recalled
the type of filter linked to 23 deaths in Croatia, 10 in Spain, 41 in India, 7
in Taiwan, and at least 4 in the US.