PENNFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities in Calhoun County say a 41-year-old man is hospitalized due to a rare form of poisoning and they’re trying to determine how he ended up sickened.
Calhoun County Undersheriff Tim Hurtt says authorities searched a home in the 800 block of North Avenue in Pennfield Township on Monday wearing protective suits and breathing systems after thallium was linked to the home.
James Rutherford, health officer for the Calhoun County Health Department, said his agency became involved Friday when the critically ill man was diagnosed with thallium poisoning.
Rutherford tells the Battle Creek Enquirer the level of thallium, formerly used in a now-banned banned rat poison, was 160 times what would normally be found in a person. He says the poisoning also could be from methamphetamine production.
