Harvard Whodunit: Student Poisoning a Mystery
by Claudine ZapOct 26, 2009
Is there a doctor in the house? A group of students at a Harvard Medical School lab got sick after they made the mistake of drinking the coffee brewed there.
Six experienced dizziness and low blood pressure after sipping the toxic joe and were rushed to the hospital — and two students even passed out. Luckily, nobody experienced any long-term damage. The toxicology report has just been issued and the results are in: It was poison.
It's yet to be determined if the single brewer coffee machine was accidentally contaminated, or if someone was out to off the competition. (We do hear that Harvard is cut throat, but literally?) One victim has a theory: purposeful poisoning. He told the AP he thought the incident was too "strange" to be accidental, but wasn't fingering any suspects.
The scary stuff was identified as sodium azide, a common chemical preservative used in the school's lab — obviously not meant to be eaten. In response, the school is upping its security procedures, police are investigating, and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration is checking for any workplace violations. Here's an idea: No coffee machines in the lab.


