Stolen drags ‘could kill’

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 4

Stolen drags ‘could kill’

PA Dunedin Drugs stolen from Invermay Research Centre last week could kill even in very small doses, according to a veterinarian at the centre. Dr C. G. Mackintosh, of the research division, said that as little as 0.1 ml of the stolen drug, Immobilon, was "reputed” to be fatal if it came into contact with the skin.

A polystyrene box of 15 10.5 ml bottles of Immobilon, worth several thousand dollars, was taken in a green safe from Invermay on November 8. Dr Mackintosh said the highly concentrated drug

was used in the live capture of large animals in Africa, North America, and South America. Smaller doses were used in New Zealand to anaesthetise horses. “It is very dangerous. When vets use it, they need rubber gloves to handle bottles and use syringes,” he said. Two bottles of Fentax, a drug similar to Immobilon, and 30 bottles of an anaesthetic called Rompun were also stolen. “The drugs could well have been dumped, but if they get into the wrong hands, or quite simply if they are touched, they could be fatal,” he said.