Toxic History!

We all know “the dose makes the poison;” we feature the saying in our professional associations, our merch and our inside jokes. What if that is actually not what Paracelsus said, and what does this 16th century physician and his experience as a healthcare provider practicing during the information explosion brought on by the printing press have to teach medical toxicologists living through the le...

This talk draws lessons about drug policy from the history of what Professor Herzberg calls “white markets,” i.e., legal psychoactive pharmaceuticals. America is famous for its drug wars, but from Bayer’s Heroin to Purdue’s OxyContin, white markets have always been far larger, and while they have caused three major public health catastrophes, they have also been a site of policy creativity that ca...

Mercury has been used since before recorded history as a medicine, cosmetic, and poison. In this episode, we explore the liquid metal’s functions and forms in consumer products, from ancient alchemical potions to modern skin-whitening soaps.

Introducing The Consulting Toxicologist —a brand-new monthly fiction podcast where classic detective stories meet real medical toxicology. Imagine Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Joan Watson in modern-day New York City. Holmes is still the world's greatest consulting detective—but Dr. Watson is now a consulting medical toxicologist, called in whenever a mysterious poisoning leaves everyone else searching...

Edgar Allan Poe built a legacy on poems and short stories that delved into the mysterious and the macabre--but the events surrounding his own death remain disturbingly unclear. Found confused and disoriented on Election Day in 1849, he died days later without an autopsy or explanation. This talk examines Poe's final illness and the toxicological theories that may have been the cause.

If you were to make a list of the people who have most shaped the world as we know it, Thomas Midgley, Jr. probably wouldn’t crack the top 50. Yet his influence has directly and indirectly touched the lives of billions across the last century and indeed continues to be felt to this day. Listen in to hear about the man who was responsible for developing not one but TWO of history’s worst toxins.

Watching fireflies on a summer evening is one of the joys of the season. However, a fireflies light harbors a secret, and that secret can kill.

Conspiracy theory….or conspiracy fact? MK Ultra was one of the most controversial government programs that engaged in mind blowing atrocities. Let’s go down the rabbit hole together and explore what is known about the history of this program…and perhaps consider if aspects of it may still exist today!

Dr. Robert Buchanan’s murder trial captivated the public with its shocking details and gruesome display. Take a deep dive into the tragic story of this physician, where, not one, but two innocent lives were caught in the wake of one man’s pride.

From controlling libido to epilepsy, bromides surged in popularity but experienced an equally precipitous decline in 19th century medicine. As the paradigm of disease explanation progressed from humors to pathology, bromides established a therapeutic foothold during this revolutionary period. What followed, however, were urban myths and consequences of toxicological significance. Used so ubiquitou...

There is a long, perhaps to be forgotten, history of clinicians performing observational n=1 studies upon themselves to “prove” their safety and efficacy of the proposed therapy. The talk is to describe toxicology-related examples of this now discouraged practice.

The episode traces how the FDA evolved from a modest watchdog born of early 20th-century drug tragedies into a powerful regulatory agency, highlighting key reforms that reshaped American medicine. It then unpacks the long-standing “homeopathy loophole,” explaining how a century-old provision allowed homeopathic remedies to bypass modern scientific standards and why that exemption still fuels debat...

Dr. William Palmer, surgeon, gambler, toxic murderer. The historical account of Dr Palmer and the events that made him a notorious serial killer.

Karen Wetterhahn, a super star organic chemist at Dartmouth College who worked on heavy metal toxicity, presented to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital on January, 20th 1997. She was profoundly ill, and shortly lapsed into a coma. Her records were scoured and her medical team was able to trace her symptoms back to a single exposure she had received 6 months earlier in her laboratory.

Methylene blue is a vividly blue dye that holds the distinction of being the first fully synthetic medication to be given to human beings, and played a major part in the scientific advances of the late 19th century. Its almost unnatural hue belies its modern use as a life-saving antidote to methemoglobinemia.

Apples have been associated being forbidden fruit and source of nefarious poisonings all throughout folklore. This presentation delves into whether there is any historical legitimacy to these tales, and if we have anything to fear when it comes to an apple a day.

Join us as we discuss the history of the radium craze in the early 1900s and how its early popularity led to the tragic demise of many young women who worked as radium dial painters. Their story helped establish the field of medical physics and led to important legislation aimed at the protection of the health and safety of workers.

The goal of bringing the full color spectrum onto the canvas is important to artists but many of the early compounds had significant toxicity. The talk will discuss the adverse effects from some of the heavy metals found in early pigments.

Arsenic, known since antiquity as the ‘king of poisons’, gained infamy among nobility and the bourgeoisie as a public menace. Synonymous with crimes of ‘fashion’, arsenic poisoning was the silent killer and a nearly untraceable means of murder. It wasn’t until early 19th century France that the poudre de succession met its match, ushering in a revolution in forensic toxicology with the ‘chief terr...

This presentation delves into the toxicological roots of the infamous Witch Trials and other historical confessions of witchcraft and lycanthropy. Discover how the use of plants like belladonna and datura contributed to vivid hallucinations, leading individuals to believe in supernatural experiences, all while unaware that they were under the influence of potent deliriants.

The German bombing of Bari, Italy in December 1943 had disastrous consequences for the Allies. Learn more about the mysterious cargo in the port that day, the Allied cover-up that followed, and the diligent detective work that contributed to the discovery of modern cancer therapy.

Construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel was one of the worst occupational disasters in American history. Its construction resulted in large numbers of casualties, both acute and chronic, secondary to silicosis and other occupational related illnesses.

Explore the medical history of King George III, a monarch whose reign was marked by brilliance, chaos, and the shadow of madness. This toxicological exploration unveils the personal struggles behind the politics, from the medical records of his time to contemporary interpretations and possibilities.

There has been doping in sport throughout modern times, but before the steroid era athletes used different agents to enhance their performance. Learn about how strychnine use in the 1904 and 1908 Olympic marathons may have propelled runners to victory.

In 1983 patients began presenting with sudden onset Parkinsonian symptoms after using a new designer drug. Dr. Langston eventually was able to link the cases to exposure to the contaminant MPTP, and the future of Parkinson’s research was forever changed as a result.