AMA after Narcan – Is it safe?

In comes a 34-year-old male who is obtunded with pinpoint pupils and breathing at five times a minute; likely due to heroin abuse.  He wakes up after Narcan is appropriately administered, but now he wants to leave.  What is the risk of death if he leaves?  Do we restrain him against his will to monitor him …

Tox Box Journal Club

In this installment of the Tox Box Journal Club we are going over three articles reviewed at the NYC Poison Control Center in Manhattan last week. Two of the articles discuss utility of lipid emulsion therapy in animal models and a third on the deleterious effects of methotrexate dosing errors in Australia.

Fixed dose PCC?

In the past, vitamin K and FFP were the mainstays of reversing warfarin, but now we have fancy new drugs like four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCCs).  4F-PCCs can rapidly reverse the INR of warfarin induced coagulopathy with less volume and quicker than FFP.  Many of the dosing regimens base the dose on the patient’s presenting …

Octreotide for sulfonylurea poisoning

Newer second generation sulfonylureas are used extensively for treating type-2 diabetes mellitus (i.e. glyburide, glipizide, glimepiride and gliclazide). They are rapidly absorbed and reach peak plasma concentration typically within 2-4 hours; and have a duration of action up to 24 hours long. In 2010, the American Association of Poison Control centers reported nearly 4,000 cases …