Death in Britain: “Ivory Wave” (MDPV) or Diabetic Ketoacidosis?

August 30, 2010, 1:06 pm

A long article in the Daily Mail (U.K.) this weekend described the death of a 35-year-old woman who had been snorting “Ivory Wave” for 10 months in an attempt to lose weight.  As TPR mentioned a week ago, “Ivory Wave” is a substance marketed as a “soothing bath salt”. Although ingredients are not listed on…

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More lead poisoning deaths in Nigeria?

August 30, 2010, 10:07 am

In a somewhat confusing story, the BBC reports as many as 30 children in a village near the town of Anka in northern Nigeria may have died of lead poisoning in recent weeks.  As TPR posted last month, over one hundred children in Zamfara, Nigeria have died over the past year or so after being exposed…

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New nephrotoxic mushroom discovered in western Michigan

August 29, 2010, 3:27 pm

★★★½☆

Ingestion of a newly described North American mushroom species from Michigan resulting in chronic renal failure: Cortinarius orellanosus. Judge BS et al. Clin Toxicol 2010 Jul 8. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

The authors describe the development of chronic renal failure in a 53-year-old woman who ingested mushrooms she had picked herself under an oak tree in western Michigan.…

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“Mad honey” and the heart

August 26, 2010, 10:27 pm

★★½☆☆

Cardiac effects of “mad honey”: a case series. Okuyan E et al.  Clin Toxicol 2010 Jun 24 [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

As we have noted before in a post entitled “Mad Honey Sex“, pollen of certain Rhododendron species contain grayanotoxins, agents that bind to sodium channels on cell membranes and maintain them in an…

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Does serum lactate predict death in drug overdose?

August 23, 2010, 9:44 am

★★½☆☆

Utility of serum lactate to predict drug-overdose fatality. Manini AF et al.  Clin Toxicol 2010 Aug 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

This derivation study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of serum lactate in identifying acute drug overdose patients at increased risk of death.  The authors compared 50 poison-related fatalities (collected from cases reported to a regional poison…

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