The Nation - News from June 24, 1986

The cyanide in the Extra-Strength Excedrin capsules taken by a man and a woman from Auburn, Wash., who died earlier this month was from the same lot but not identical to the cyanide used in previous drug-tampering cases, a representative of the Food and Drug Administration said. Susan Hutchcroft of the FDA also said that analysis of the poison that killed was continuing at the agency’s laboratory in Cincinnati. She said that the chemistry of the cyanide used in the recent capsule deaths is unique, so federal officials hope that through further study, they will be able to trace the exact date and location of its origin.