Stores Pull Anacin 3 After Cyanide Death

A 24-year-old man who died last week may have taken an Anacin 3 capsule that contained cyanide, and Walgreen drug stores ordered the product pulled from its shelves nationwide, officials said.

Blood tests revealed cyanide in the blood of Kenneth Wayne Faries, and a preliminary toxicology report received Wednesday from the Travis County medical examiner indicated a bottle of Anacin 3 capsules taken from the victim’s apartment showed signs of being contaminated with cyanide, said Kellye Norris, a police spokeswoman.

Authorities said the capsules had been traced to a Walgreen store, and that they were considering the death a homicide.

“Walgreens company has sent out a computer message to its stores nationwide to pull the Anacin 3 capsules from the shelves and to quarantine the product until further notice,” said Laurie Meyer, manager of corporate relations for Walgreen in Deerfield, Ill.

University Student

Faries, of Garland, was a student in natural sciences at the University of Texas, police said.

Area residents are being asked to examine any Anacin 3 bottle to see if it is labeled Lot 6-B-11 with an expiration date of 10-88.

“Law enforcement officers are asking anyone who finds capsules with that lot number just to hold on to them and not take them,” Norris said. “We will tell them later what to do with them.”

Jack Wood, a spokesman for American Home Products of New York, which makes Anacin 3, said the company had no plans to remove the pain-killer from store shelves.

Faries was found dead in his apartment by a roommate last Thursday.

“At first, they thought it might have been a drug overdose,” Norris said, adding that there were indications that Faries took at least one of the Anacin 3 capsules.

Homicide Lt. Jerry Slaton said the medical examiner’s office had initially ruled the death a homicide, adding that “we’re investigating all aspects of it.”

Tests Disclose Cyanide

The preliminary toxicology tests disclosed the presence of cyanide in the bottle, and one of the capsules appeared to have been tampered with, Slaton said.

Austin police, the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI have joined in the investigation, Norris said. There had been no other reports of deaths or illness from cyanide since Faries’ death, she said.

Police established that the bottle came from a Walgreen store in north Austin, Slaton said.

In September, 1982, seven Chicago-area residents died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide.

No one was charged in the deaths, although James Lewis was convicted and sent to prison for attempting to extort $1 million from Johnson & Johnson at the time of the scare.

Last Feb. 8, Diane Elsroth, 23, of Peekskill, N.Y., died after taking two cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules in Yonkers, N.Y. No arrests have been made.

On Feb. 23, the body of Timothy R. Green, 32, was found in his Nashville home with a bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol containing one capsule filled with cyanide next to the bed. The death touched off an investigation by the FBI and the FDA, but Metro Nashville Medical Examiner Charles W. Harlan ruled the death a suicide.