With more and more victims of spurious liquor being admitted to the city government hospitals. The V S Hospital on Thursday set up five separate wards for these patients, even as doctors said that survival chances remain slim. By the evening, the official death toll rose to 95.

Hospital superintendent Dr M H Makwana said that because of the fixation of the formaldehyde cells to tissues which is an irreversible process, dialysis may prove helpful for only a few patients. “Out of the eight patients brought here last night, one died within 30 minutes of his arrival,” he added.

Explaining the reason behind the large number of deaths, Dr HP Balodia, Dean of the Medical Faculty at the BJ Medical College, said that when methyl alcohol is consumed and the process of metabolism starts, the liver processes it into formaldehyde, which is poisonous in nature.

“The process takes about three hours, which is why if appropriate treatment is given in time, the patient can survive. Ethanol prevents the digestion of methanol by the liver and is excreted without metabolism. A five-per cent ethanol intravenous injection along with respiratory support and system management, if any system is affected, can save life. But in this case, patients are coming after 24 hours or more, which has reduced the survival chances drastically,” Dr Balodia added.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas has confirmed free treatment for the victims. State Commissioner of Health Dr Amarjeet Singh said the three basic fears were kidney failure, liver failure and loss of eyesight, which they

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