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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Kim Jong Nam was reportedly carrying antidotes [reuters.com] to the chemical weapon he was killed with, as well as $125,000 in cash:

Kim Jong Nam, the murdered half-brother of North Korea's leader, had a dozen vials of antidote for lethal nerve agent VX in his sling bag on the day he was poisoned, a Malaysian court was told this week. Two women, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese, are charged with conspiring with four North Korean fugitives in the murder, making use of banned chemical weapon VX at the Kuala Lumpur international airport on Feb. 13.

The vials contained atropine, an antidote for poisons such as VX and insecticides, toxicologist Dr K. Sharmilah told the court on Wednesday, state news agency Bernama said.

Atropine [wikipedia.org] is used to treat nerve agent and pesticide poisonings, and is typically given intravenously or injected into a muscle. Kim Jong Nam didn't pack any syringes.

Also at CNN [cnn.com], BBC [bbc.com], and Asia Times [atimes.com]:

Nerve gas blocks the biological action of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the body, essentially shutting down the nervous system. This stops the action of all the body's organs and leads to convulsions and death rather quickly. Atropine is designed to counteract the blocking agent.

As an antidote, atropine has to be administered very rapidly and absorbed into the body quickly. This rules out atropine liquids and pills as an effective counter to nerve agents because these means of therapy work too slowly. The best administration is through intramuscular injection.

Previously: Kim Jong-Un's Half-Brother Reportedly Killed in Malaysia [soylentnews.org]

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