CODY, Wyo. — Since New Year's Day, Kaylie Kline's story regarding her belief she was poisoned with antifreeze while at a Wyoming bar has gained national attention.
But a new report, submitted by Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric, raises questions about what really happened that night.
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During an interview in early February, Kline told MTN after celebrating the new year at the Silver Dollar Bar in Cody, she suddenly started having seizures before slipping into a four-day coma.
Kline said she believed she was poisoned with antifreeze as her consistent seizures stopped after receiving an antifreeze antidote.
See MTN's previous reporting:
"I tried to stand, and I couldn't walk. So, I just sat there for a little longer, and it was ultimately terrifying because I felt like I was burning from the inside out... It was scary and nerve-wracking because I shouldn't have lived," she said.
In a letter addressed to Cody police on Feb. 28, Skoric says he found little to no evidence that Kline was poisoned with ethylene glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze, that night.
"A review of doctors' notes revealed that 'ethylene glycol' is not mentioned in any of their narratives, only in the headlining for laboratory testing," the report says.
Skoric says he interviewed 16 people, including the alleged suspect. He also says security footage retrieved from the bar showed no evidence Kline's drink was tampered with.
"(A medical examiner) stated that if Ms. Kline had ingested ethylene glycol while drinking alcohol, the ethylene glycol would pass through her system without being broken down... Lastly, he opined that just because Ms. Kline seemed to get better after the antidote was administered does not indicate that ethylene glycol was present," Skoric writes to Det. Tyler Eubanks.
Rather than antifreeze poisoning, the report suggests that Kline's physical reaction may have been due to Wellbutrin ( the generic drug bupropion), which is an antidepressant that when taken in large quantities can lower the threshold for a seizure.
"The National Institute of Health advises it is not safe to mix Wellbutrin and alcohol, and that research suggests alcohol can significantly lower the seizure threshold when mixed with Wellbutrin," Skoric wrote.
A medical psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Arzubi with Frontier Psychiatry in Billings, told MTN Tuesday that Wellbutrin in extremely high quantities can lead to seizures, but he adds that 150 milligrams, Kline's prescription, would likely not lead to the reaction.
"It's rare that (Wellbutrin) would cause anything substantial, certainly seizures or other things... There are a lot of misconceptions with antidepressants," he said.
Arzubi said he cannot speak to Kline's case in specifics, but says in the thousands of antidepressants he's prescribed in his career that it's rare for them to cause harm to patients.
"I've seen these medications save lives," he said.
Arzubi said that he doesn't recommend mixing antidepressants and alcohol, because of possible unwanted side effects.
"I think it's important to understand that when somebody's taking medication, often the effects of that medication can almost be canceled out by drinking alcohol... When people drink a lot of alcohol, it tends to suppress activity in the brain. But, as your body burns through the alcohol, the activity in the brain starts to go up and the risk of seizure increases," he said.
For the average patient, although Wellbutrin and alcohol can increase the likelihood for seizures, in small quantities it isn't likely, according to Arzubi.
According to Kline's original interview, she said on New Year's Eve she had three alcohol beverages, one of which she believes was tampered with.
That night, both Kline and her mother, Amber Espinoza, claim she had not taken Wellbutrin.
"Medical records indicate that Kailey's Wellbutrin prescription had not been filled and was prescribed over a year ago... She was not taking Wellbutrin. It did not work for her. Her toxicology for alcohol was not in a fatal range for alcohol poisoning," Espinoza wrote in a statement.
Espinoza, a registered nurse studying psychiatry, told MTN that Skoric's investigation lacked thoroughness. For instance, she said out of the 16 people interviewed, she nor any of the medical staff who responded to Kline's case were interviewed.
"From the very beginning, we state that the labs for ethylene glycol were drawn too late, raising the possibility of negative results... Ethlyene glycol was positively detected in trace amounts, which makes it insufficient for legal or assay confirmation and a large anion gap would only be indicative of a significant ethylene glycol ingestion," she writes.
Espinoza said that because of the report, Kline has been the victim of bullying and harassment. Both Espinoza and Kline declined in-person interviews for this story, saying they are seeking legal counsel.
In the report, Skoric quotes a neurologist to explain the situation. This neurologist believes the incident was a result of several factors, noting that Kline is missing a significant portion of her stomach.
"'At this time, the most likely cause for her presentation is status epilepticus, likely consequent to a combination of factors including a gastric sleeve, ethanol use, possible intoxicating substance from a stranger at the bar, and lowered seizure from the use of Wellbutrin'... In summary, nothing from your investigation yielded any evidence that anyone poisoned Ms. Kline," Skoric writes.
