Lethal Dose

Insulin is a life-saving cure for diabetic patients, but was used to kill at least nine people at a VA hospital in West Virginia around 2018.  1. Principles of Pharmacology, Second Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore, 2008. 2. 100 Years Ago, a Miracle Drug Saved Millions of Children—and Created a Powerful Myth. In Dr. Banting's Miracle Drug, Bolt, A.; Harrop, J.; Kirschner, E., E...

Homicide by nicotine. This episode describes the murder of Linda Curry by her husband, Paul Curry. Kayla and Venus also discuss nicotine-contaminated ground beef and how the analytical method for extracting alkaloid drugs was done out of spite. Audio clip is from the movie Thank You for Smoking. 1. Mishra, A.; Chaturvedi, P.; Datta, S.; Sinukumar, S.; Joshi, P.; Garg, A., Harmful effects of nicoti...

In the second half of our two-part series on the chemical warfare agents in the Vietnam War, we discuss arsenic-containing Agent Blue, and Agent White. 1. Studdard, T. Rainbow Herbicides, Agent Orange, and VA Benefits. https://veterans.perkinslawtalk.com/post/agent-orange-rainbow-herbicides-and-va-benefits/ (accessed 13 Jan 2021). 2. Lavallard, M.-H., A Chemical War Without End: Agent Orange in Vi...

In the first of a two part series, Kayla and Venus discuss the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and the absolutely devastating effects that this chemical had on the environment and people of Vietnam, as well as the U.S. servicemen who dispersed it, potentially without knowing what it could or would do. 1. Frederickson, L., From ecocide to eco-ally: Picloram, herbicidal warfare, and invas...

Kayla tells Venus about the murder of James Baker III by his wife, Jamie Baker, using antifreeze-spiked anabolic steroids. We also talk about animal poisonings, suicide, and whether or not we're all just in our antemortem phase. 1. Buttner, J. Jamie L. Baker Pleads Guilty to Murdering Weightlifter James Baker Regal Tribune [Online], 2017. https://www.regaltribune.com/jamie-l-baker/28204/ (accessed...

Kayla and Venus discuss table salt, which Lacey Spears used to kill her son, Garnett, in 2014. This episode contains discussion of child abuse and death. 1. Roberts, T., A Mother Accused. 48 Hours: cbsnews.com, 2016. 2. Grant, H., Nissen's Fundoplication. In The Children's Hospital, Hospitals, O. R., Ed. NHS Trust: Oxford, 2014. 3. Pt. 1: Camera Catches Mom Poisoning Son at Hospital - Crime Watch...

Kayla and Venus discuss arsenic as a drug and a poison beginning in Antiquity with descriptions from Hippocrates and ending in the 1800s with the implementation of the Marsh test.  1. Baselt, R. C., Arsenic. In Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man, Second Edition , Biomedical Publications: Davis, California, 1982. 2. Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies . Tenth ed.; McGraw-Hill Educ...

Kayla nerds out on Venus with some toxicology concepts and terms in order to tell you that botulinum toxins could be used in war, assassination attempts, and to poison the food supply. Don't freak out.  1. National Botulism Surveillance Summary 2017 ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, Georgia, 2019. 2. Dhaked, R. K.; Singh, M. K.; Singh, P.; Gupta, P., Botulinum toxin: Biow...

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