The Poison Lab

The Bozeman outbreak was the first loud signal, but it was not the only one. After the CDC report, toxicologists in other countries started looking back through their own poison center data and found something unsettling: more patients with severe illness after eating morels, including cases of shock, gastrointestinal bleeding, and death. And it did not stop there. In Episode 6 of A Morel Dilemma...

Hey everyone, it’s Ryan. I know many of you are patiently waiting for Episode 6 of A Morel Dilemma , and it is coming next week. I genuinely cannot wait for you to hear this one. But it is actually available right now for supporter members. You can go to www.thepoisonlab.com/support and get every single episode right now for as little as $1 a month. And full disclosure, I only get about half of th...

This preview features the opening conversations from two supporting member bonus episodes in The Poison Lab outbreak series. First, we head to Ontario, where a mass aconite poisoning unfolded after a restaurant spice was contaminated with one of the most dangerous plant toxins in the world. Then we travel to Australia, where the poppy seed supply was contaminated with thebaine, triggering seizures...

In this bonus episode of A Morel Dilemma , Ryan shares his recent interview on WTMJ Conversations with Libby Collins. The conversation goes behind the scenes of the series and explores why Ryan spent two years investigating the 2023 Bozeman, Montana morel mushroom outbreak, one of the strangest poisoning outbreaks in recent history. Ryan discusses how the outbreak challenged long-held assumptions...

In Episode 5, we put the morel mushroom on trial. This bonus episode shows how we built the case. Dr. Grant Comstock joins me for the full, unfiltered causation breakdown using the Bradford Hill criteria, a public health framework used to separate true causation from simple association. We walk through the CDC data step by step, looking at strength of association, timing, dose response, plausibili...

The case against the morel mushroom is starting to come together, but there are still major problems. Not everyone who got sick ate morels, and not everyone who ate morels got sick. If the mushroom is really the culprit, those gaps have to be explained. In Episode 5 of A Morel Dilemma , we put the CDC data on trial with Dr. Grant Comstock and stress-test the evidence linking morels to the Bozeman...

When every obvious test comes back negative, investigators have to look for another way to prove what caused the outbreak. So this episode takes a step sideways, from Bozeman, Montana to a small mountain village in the French Alps, where researchers faced a different kind of mystery: a cluster of ALS cases with no clear cause. What they found there may help explain how scientists can link a mushro...

In this bonus episode, we go deeper into the public health machinery behind a mass poisoning investigation. Dr. Michael Yeh, a medical toxicologist at the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, explains how the CDC gets pulled into unusual outbreaks, how poison centers and health departments help spot early signals, and what happens once a local cluster starts looking like something bigge...

With the restaurant closed and the first interviews underway, investigators bring in the CDC and FDA to help answer the question at the center of the outbreak: what actually made people sick? The leading suspect is still the morel mushroom, but proving that is not simple. The symptoms could fit bacterial food poisoning, spoiled fish, a chemical contaminant, a mislabeled spice, or even a toxic mush...

This bonus episode takes a deeper look at the muscarine poisoning case discussed by Dr. Matthew Stanton. We break down how muscarine causes toxicity, why its symptoms can become life-threatening, and why its important for foragers to recognize so they can be treated. Select References: Dr. Stanton's case report Wisconsin Muscarine Case Series (Not yet available) A Morel Dilemma Support the show Re...

In this bonus episode, Dr. Rob Bassett from Philadelphia Poison Control walks us through one of the most useful teaching tools in mushroom toxicology: GOTTA PICCEM . This mnemonic organizes toxic mushrooms by their clinical syndromes and, most importantly, by the timing of symptom onset. That timing can be one of the biggest clues toxicologists use to decide whether a mushroom exposure is likely t...

Who actually treats mushroom poisoning? In this short mini episode, we answer a surprisingly important question: when someone gets sick after eating a mushroom, who do they call, and who helps the doctors figure out what to do next? We break down the role of poison centers, medical toxicologists, emergency clinicians, and why the most important number to remember is 1-800-222-1222 . A Morel Dilemm...

As reports of severe illness and death come in, the Bozeman outbreak moves from medical mystery to full public health investigation. Local and state investigators race to identify the source, shut down the risk, interview patients, collect food samples, and figure out whether anyone else could still be in danger. The early signal points toward one unlikely ingredient: morel mushrooms. But for toxi...

A deadly outbreak begins with a single meal at a sushi restaurant in Bozeman, Montana. Within hours, diners develop severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some collapse. Two people die. At first, it looks like food poisoning, but investigators quickly notice one strange ingredient connecting many of the sick patients: morel mushrooms. In the first episode of A Morel Dilemma , we meet the people ca...

Available June 3rd- A deadly outbreak begins at a sushi restaurant in Bozeman, Montana. Diners develop rapid, severe gastrointestinal illness. Some collapse. Two people die. And the only clue pointing investigators toward a cause is also the hardest one to believe: morel mushrooms. A Morel Dilemma is a serialized outbreak investigation from The Poison Lab , following the story in real time as clin...

In this special co-broadcast episode, The Poison Lab joins forces with The Kratom Sobriety Podcast for a deeper conversation about kratom, regulation, addiction, recovery, and what poison center data can tell us about real-world harm. Kratom is a plant-derived substance that contains mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, compounds with opioid-like effects. It is sold in many forms, including powde...

In this episode of The Poison Lab Outbreak , Ryan talks with Dr. Alaina Steck about a devastating mass poisoning in Mozambique that began at a funeral and ultimately sickened more than 200 people, with a fatality toll of over 70. Early reports blamed crocodile bile. Others suspected intentional poisoning. But as the investigation unfolded, the clinical picture, timeline, and exposure history did n...

Phenibut is an emerging and unfamiliar drug taking hold in the US that is readily available online and legal to obtain. It acts as a GABA-B agonist and carries risks of dependency and withdrawal. In this episode Ryan interviews phenibut users as well as experts involved in phenibut treatment. They explore the history, current trends, toxicity, and management of phenibut, a novel GABA-B agonist. He...

In this episode of The Poison Lab , host Ryan Feldman is joined by medical toxicologist Damilola Idowu‑Ellsworth for a fast-moving, case-heavy conversation packed with clinical pearls, listener participation, and classic toxicology weirdness. The show opens with listener guesses for the previously released mystery case before diving headfirst into a rapid-fire series of Stump the Toxicologist case...

Hey everybody, you’re listening to The Poison Lab —well, almost. We’ve got a new episode coming next week , but we’re running a little behind on our usual release schedule because… life happens. That said, if you’re looking for some toxicology content right now , I’ve got you covered. Recently, I had the chance to appear on two local and state radio shows talking about one of my favorite topics: m...

Do you think you know the cause of these symptoms? Send your guesses to toxtalk1@gmail.com to take part in the next episode A Morel Dilemma Support the show Review the show where ever your listening Get Messages from Toxo (Join the Newsletter!) Join as a supporting member Ad free episodes Bonus content and early access Discounts and give aways on GOTA PICCEM Mushroom card game The GOTTA PICCEM Poi...

In November 2022, hospitals across Australia began seeing patients with sudden rigidity, spasms, seizures—and in some cases cardiac arrest—after drinking homemade poppy seed tea. The source? Food-shelf poppy seeds contaminated with extraordinarily high levels of thebaine, an opioid alkaloid that acts nothing like morphine. In this Outbreak episode, host Ryan Feldman, clinical toxicologist and emer...

Get your copy here! https://a.co/d/8QUBmQy Want to hear it with insights from the author?:  • Poisonous Fungus Among Us | Full Children’...   Don't have time for the full thing: check the highlights:  • Poisonous Fungus Amongus Highlights Reel   Want a clearer picture: Full reading large scale here:  •&n...

Show Notes In this special live episode from the 2025 North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NACCT), Ryan takes you inside the conference to hear directly from the researchers themselves. Covering 11 abstracts that span high-stakes management decisions, surprising case reports, and challenges to toxicology dogma, this year’s highlights feature everything from amlodipine overdoses to natur...

In this episode of The Poison Lab, host Ryan Feldman is joined by Dr. Joe Kennedy, medical toxicologist at the University of Vermont and consultant for the Northern New England Poison Center. Together they work through real poisoning cases to sharpen toxic differentials, sum up practical resuscitation priorities, and connect first-principles pharmacology to bedside decisions. They also answer list...