The Los Angeles Fire Department has released tape of a 911 call placed this past Monday from the Benedict Canyon home of actress Demi Moore. On the tape, an unidentified female caller tells the operator that:
She smoked something. It’s not marijuana, but it’s similar to incense, and she seems to be having convulsions of some sort.
The substance …
Life-threatening Necrotizing Fasciitis Due to ‘Bath Salts’ Injection. Russo R et al. Orthopedics 2012 Jan 16;35(1):e124-7. doi: 10.3928/01477447-20111122-36.
This dramatic case report fro Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center describes a 34-year-old woman who developed a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis several days after injecting a “bath salt” product intramuscularly into the right forearm.
The authors report that the infection …
Case Series of Selenium Toxicity From A Nutritional Supplement. Aldosary BM et al. Clin Toxicol 2012;50:57-64.
This case series describes9 patient who developed selenium toxicity after ingesting a nutritional supplement that contained 200 times the recommend concentration of selenium. Patients presented with signs and symptoms characteristic of selenium toxicity: alopecia, dystrophic fingernail changes, gastrointestinal symptoms, and memory deficits. All …
“Legal Highs” – novel and emerging psychoactive drugs: a chemical overview for the toxicologist. Gibbons S Clin Toxicol 2012;50:15-24.
“Legal highs” are chemicals that have structural and pharmacological similarities to controlled substances. They are often sold and labelled as innocuous products such as “bath salts”, “plant food”, or “pond cleaner”, with warnings that they are not for human consumption. …
The Journal of the American Medical Association has a neat clinical puzzler in its current issue. An elderly woman presents with a foley bag full of purple urine. What’s the diagnosis, and what’s your next step?
To read the case and see a picture of the urine, click here. At a separate link you can find the solution and …
Can Nebulized Naloxone Be Used Safely and Effectively By Emergency Medical Services For Suspected Opioid Overdose? Weber JM et al. Prehosp Emerg Care 2011 Dec 22 [Epub ahead of print]
Many emergency practitioners are not aware that naloxone can be given by nebulizer. In the non-emergent situation involving a patient with suspected opiate intoxication, this route has many advantages: …
A case of acute valproic acid poisoning treated successfully with L-carnitine. Papaseit EP et al. Eur J Emerg Med 2012;19:57-8.
No abstract available
This short case report describes a 30-year-old man who presented with decreased mental status and increased ammonia level after an apparent acute overdose of valproic acid (VA). Interestingly, laboratory tests showed no evidence of hepatotoxicity. To make …
Gunja N, Brown JA. Energy drinks: health risks and toxicity. Med J Aust 16 Jan 2012;196:46-49.
This Australian study retrospectively reviewed 7 years of calls to the New South Wales Poison Information Centre related to consumption of caffeinated energy drinks. The authors identified 297 calls, the majority of which (73%) involved recreational exposure. The median number of …
PMMA pils confiscated by the DEA
The Province (B.C.) reported yesterday that forensic studies on 18 ecstasy-related deaths in British Columbia since August 2011 revealed that five victims tested positive for para-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA). Tissues from all 18 victims also contained ecstasy (MDMA).
PMMA is a phenethylamine that appears to be more potent than MDMA, with a …
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