Poison Alerts

The Buzz about Honey Oil and Wax CASE SCENARIO       A man enveloped in flames emerges from a hotel room after an explosion blows out windows and one of the walls. An 18 inch section of PVC pipe stuffed with…

PERPLEXING PARESTHESIAS – Could Your Patient Have a Pyrethroid Insecticide Exposure? The National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), a cooperative effort between Oregon State University and the EPA, has noted that over the past ten years, there have been some significant…

Drug abuse with synthetic substances is not a new phenomenon, but it is interesting and can be challenging to health care providers.  Patterns of abuse and the types of drugs being abused changes over time.  There has been a dramatic…

The least considered… As the seasons turn so do the types of calls the Missouri Poison Center receives on the hotline.  From summer stings and sunscreen we now turn our attention to the winter’s mix of cold medicines, antifreeze, and…

There are bold mushroom hunters and there are old mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters. --- A wise person As spring approaches, one thing we can count on: mushrooms in the yard, woods, roadsides, etc. We…

“First do no harm.” Can GI Decontamination (GID) do harm? Sometimes: A child who was seen ingesting several tablets of clonidine is brought to an ED 30 minutes post ingestion. Upon arrival, the alert child is lavaged and given AC…

Buprenorphine, typically in combination with naloxone (e.g., Suboxone®), is prescribed to treat opioid addiction. Buprenorphine alone may also be prescribed for pain management and opioid addiction. It has the potential to cause delayed and persistent CNS and respiratory depression for…

The use of aspirin as a pain reliever and antipyretic has declined over the years with the increased use of acetaminophen and NSAIDs and the historical association of aspirin and Reye’s Syndrome in children. The discovery, however, that aspirin can…