At the stroke of midnight on Friday, December 31st, many of us will be ringing in 2011 with the familiar phrase “happy new year!” while sipping our favorite alcoholic beverages. However, being oblivious to where you leave your unfinished drink can result in a very scary start to the New Year if your child gets … more
The clocks ticking… have you done all of your holiday shopping? Have you retrieved the one toy that was on the TOP of the gift list this year? With the holidays quickly approaching and everyone out feverously shopping for gifts, it is also important to make sure that the toys you purchase are safe [this is … more
I put it in a smaller empty plastic bottle. In a 2 year retrospective study on the causes of methanol poisoning — presented at the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology this year — 30% of the methanol exposures (the toxic ingredient in most windshield wiper fluid) that were called into the Illinois Poison Center occurred … more
During this dark, dreary winter season, we think there’s no better time to provide you with an important update on the “sunshine vitamin.” If you pay attention to medical news, media stories, infomercials, and advertisements, then you know that vitamin D supplementation is commonly promoted for a variety of health-related issues.
…At No Cost To You! Who says Cyber Monday is the only time you can shop online to find great deals?! Did you know that by making every day and holiday purchases online via iGive.com, a percentage of your total will be donated to the IPC? Yes indeed. This means that every purchase you make on … more
By Carol It’s almost Thanksgiving, so this week’s blog will focus on what’s really important this time of year: Food! We’ve already written about food poisoning, so this time let’s talk about poisoned food. If you’ve read or heard any of the IPC’s poison prevention tips, then you know some of the most important ones are: … more
Tony Burda, Carol DesLauriers, Abra Berg (Student Resident) If even the briefest mention of bed bugs is enough to make you itch, imagine spending hours researching this topic! However, for the sake of our readers, we stalwartly slathered on the calamine and dove right in. If you have been following the news in the past … more
In observance of Veteran’s Day (11/11) we invite you to take a journey into the life of one soldier’s remarkable experience while deployed overseas in Mosul, Iraq. Shortly after finishing my fellowship in medical toxicology, I began an active duty commitment with the United States Army. Within eight months I was deployed to the 47th Combat Support Hospital … more
By Art Kubic, PharmD and IPC Call Center Specialist It’s that time of year again! Fall is finally here. Time for pumpkins, corn mazes, apple cider, leaves (and the subsequent raking/leaf blowing), and one of my absolute favorite holidays—Halloween! With trick-or-treating season right around the corner, now is the time to start making plans to … more
By Tony No, this is not our attempt to make shameless PG-rated “bathroom humor.” I haven’t conducted any studies nor am I equipped with any concrete statistics; all I have is my 30 years of observations as a certified toxicologist and those of other Illinois Poison Center call center staff. Yet I ask you to … more
By Tony Burda, DABAT and Grazina Janeliauskaite, Pharm.D. Student In 1999, while I (Tony) was training a brand new specialist who had just starting working at the Illinois Poison Center, he listened to one of my calls from a nervous parent whose child ate something which was not poisonous. The parent kept repeating the same … more
How to manage and prevent harmful chemical exposures to the eye By: Tony Burda and Robert Redwood ( 4th Year Medical Student at RUMC) When you think of the type calls received by a Poison Control Center, you probably think of poisonings such as a child tasting rat poison or eating several handfuls of chewable vitamins or taking several bites of … more
A Grandparent’s Guide to Poison Prevention By Tony “Grandman” Burda and Grazina Janeliauskaite Two recent developments have spurred us to address the importance of diligent poison prevention by grandparents of small children. On September 9 2010, the PEW Research Center released a report entitled “Since the Start of the Great Recession, More Children Raised by … more
How to safely use rat and mouse poison By Tony Burda, DABAT and Grazina Janeliauskaite, Pharm.D. Student Along with the cooling of outdoor temperatures and the chill in the wind at this time of year we all like to come inside to a nice, warm, cozy home and have a pleasant beverage or snack. But we … more
On September 25, 2010, the DEA will coordinate a collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation’s medicine cabinets.
Tony Burda DABAT and Sheri VanOsdol Pharm.D. Recently the Illinois Poison Center (IPC) received a call from a parent whose toddler ingested some contents of an e-cigarette cartridge containing nicotine. We could find very little information addressing the accidental poisoning potential of these products in children, so we thought we’d share some information with you based … more
Male enhancement, dietary supplements and the risk of heart arrhythmias I don’t know if I chose this subject because it would allow me the opportunity to write about ‘male enhancement’ as I approach the recommended age of my first colonoscopy; or if it is it because the authors of an article implicating Enzyte as a source of … more
By Tony Burda DABAT and Sheri VanOsdol Pharm.D. The incidence of bee stings tends to rise during the late summer and fall. Recently, a suburban Chicago greenhouse worker died from a suspected reaction to a bee sting. This unfortunate incident prompted us to summarize some simple first aid tips in the event that you are … more
Well it’s about that time of August where parents are rejoicing and kids are groaning: the beginning of a new school year. For most families, their summer and school year schedules are drastically different, and the transition can take some getting used to. Below are some common poisoning hazards that can happen to you or … more
15 years ago I worked four straight night shifts during the one of the largest heat-related disasters in the Midwest; over 700 people died in the Chicago metropolitan area in just a few days during that deadly heat wave of 1995. I vividly remember ambulances lined up waiting to bring another critically ill patient into … more
After months of diligently working to encourage Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly to maintain funding for the Illinois Poison Center in the new fiscal state budget (FY2011), our hard work has “paid off”! The Illinois Poison Center is pleased to announce that Governor Quinn has decided to maintain funding for the poison … more
By Tony Burda DABAT, and Sheri VanOsdol, Pharm.D. You probably have seen or heard the story about the recent study released from the Journal of Pediatrics regarding the incidence of children treated in emergency departments due to exposure to household cleaning products. Rather than quoting a lot of statistics, which you can find on other … more
By Harry C. Karydes, DO, Toxicology Fellow An interesting case came into the Illinois Poison Centerthis week. A frantic father called after his 3 year-old daughter inadvertently ingested copper sulfate. During the case review, it was discovered that the father was using the product as an algaecide to clean their outdoor pool. Unfortunately, he placed this liquid … more
By Kris Ochs, Pharm.D. student Have you heard of this trend in teen drug abuse called “Pharming”? Pharming refers to the practice of abusing prescription medications and over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products. This includes taking a higher dose of one’s own medication than is prescribed, taking a drug that is prescribed for someone else, … more
By Erin Pallasch, PharmD and IPC Call Center Specialist Recently, I set out on a quest to determine which would be the scariest berry ingestion a parent might call the Illinois Poison Center about. There are many toxic berries out there, but the one I would be most concerned with would be the Chinaberry. The ingestion of only … more
