Puff of Death

Woman in critical condition after eating poisonous puffer fish

HITACHINAKA, Ibaraki -- A woman who ate parts of a poisonous fugu puffer fish sold to her illegally is fighting for her life in a hospital, Ibaraki Prefectural Government officials said.

The 45-year-old woman is unconscious and in a critical condition after she ate the skin and liver of the poisonous puffer fish.

Her 52-year-old husband also ate some of the potentially deadly fish, but was not harmed.

"We've eaten fugu we bought at the same place before and never had a problem," he said. "They did tell us the skin was poisonous, though."

Sale of fugu without its poisonous parts requires a special license under the Food Hygiene Law and the fishmonger that sold to the woman did not have one. Hitachinaka public health authorities have shut down the fishmonger.

Prefectural officials said the woman bought six fugu on Jan. 11 and cooked them in a stew at her home. About three hours after the woman ate the puffer fish's skin and liver, she started complaining of a tingling in her mouth and hands. Her husband ate only the fish's flesh.