Cocaine in Malt Drink Leaves Man Brain-Dead
A man poisoned by a cocaine-tainted malt drink was declared brain-dead today and his mother has decided to disconnect life-support systems, hospital officials said.
Maximo Rene Menendez, 25, had been in a coma since drinking the contaminated bottle of Pony Malta de Bavaria on July 26.
Federal officials are still looking for the source of the cocaine. The bottle Menendez drank was purchased at a Miami supermarket. The nonalcoholic malt drink was pulled from the shelves, and the FBI later discovered that 20 bottles of Pony Malta de Bavaria were contaminated with lethal doses of cocaine.
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