Dr. Roy Gerona contracts with the Drug Enforcement Administration and has been investigating a string of poisoning cases from mushroom gummies. Dr. Michael Moss couldn’t explain why the man in his hospital’s ICU had started convulsing after trying a chocolate bar, but he knew there was more to the story.
The patient recounted eating a mushroomed-infused candy, packaged with trippy artwork – purchased legally at a local store.
He’d been flown in over the weekend from a rural hospital to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City where Moss, a toxicologist, is medical director of the Utah Poison Control Center.
“This was crazy,” he said to himself, “Nobody gets put on the ventilator and has a seizure from eating psychedelic mushrooms.”
Alarmed, he began contacting poison centers around the country, and soon discovered similar cases were popping up: Patients with nausea, vomiting, agitation, seizures, loss of consciousness and other symptoms.
There are now 130 documented illnesses – including two suspected deaths – all tied to the same brand of mushroom edibles, called Diamond Shruumz, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
It’s one of the many varieties of psychedelic-inspired treats that have proliferated online, in smoke shops and convenience stores, often advertising some kind of proprietary mushroom blend, with words like “nootropic,” “magic” or “microdosing” emblazoned on the packaging.
Prophet Premium Blends, the company that makes Diamond Shruumz, said in a recall notice that it has ceased production and distribution of the products, citing “toxic levels of muscimol .”
Muscimol is a compound in the iconic red-capped mushroom, Amanita muscaria , and was identified by the company as a “potential cause” of the sickness, the recall notice said. The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.In spite of the recall, poison centers are still receiving calls, albeit at a slower pace than earlier in the summer, says Kaitlyn Brown , clinical managing director for America’s Poison Centers.While also psychoactive, the Amanita species has quite different effects from the famous (and mostly illegal) psilocybin-containing magic mushrooms and has gained more popularity lately , buoyed by the fact that it’s not a controlled substance.Yet it’s […]
Mushroom edibles are making people sick. Scientists still don’t know why
