Bedside toxicology reasoning, with fake sponsors on the side.
On The Poison Lab, host Ryan Feldman, a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist, works through poisonings the way a clinician would: history, vitals, then the likely culprit. Spoof sponsor spots, a toxic-mushroom card game and a sign-off to his 'Toxicolleagues' keep all that medicine from going dry.
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The Poison Lab is a toxicology show hosted by Ryan Feldman, a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist. It describes itself as a show about poisoning from people who manage poisoning. That description holds up. The material is clinical and specific, and jokes interrupt it often. One home for it is the numbered series 'Toxicologist vs The internet', which brings in guests such as Dr. Damilola Idowu-Ellsworth and Dr. Joe Kennedy, a medical toxicologist at the University of Vermont and associate program director for its emergency medicine residency. The Kennedy installment works a patient case clue by clue. Normal vitals argue against a bleed, an easy answer about an arthritis patient overdoing ibuprofen is ruled out, and a companion's account of shared recreational drug use changes the picture. Chemistry gets its turn too. The episode titled 'If I had a Nickel (Mystery Case) & Toxicologist vs The internet (#13) with Dr. Damilola Idowu-Ellsworth' explains how nickel reacts with carbon monoxide to form nickel carbonyl, a highly toxic gas used to purify the metal, then sets that against everyday nickel problems like contact dermatitis. Research has a place as well. 'LIVE from Chicago: 2025 NACCT Research Review – Insights from the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology' includes a pointed exchange on medication stewardship: any drug given to a patient can cause harm, so treatment offered because it seems harmless deserves scrutiny. Mushroom safety is plainly a personal project. The show promotes 'Gotta Pick Em', a toxic-mushroom card game that was available at NACCT, and in 'Poisonous Fungus Amongus is Here— The Rhyming Kid (or Adult) Book For Mushroom Safety' the host announces an illustrated, rhyming book he wrote on caps, gills, spore prints and poisonous lookalikes. It grew out of lecture preparation, after he noticed that even people in healthcare don't always know the basic parts of a mushroom. Mass poisonings are another thread, with titles such as 'Outbreak: Thebaine Poisoning from Poppy Seed Tea in Australia' and 'Poisoning Outbreak: Aconite Poisoning at Markham, Ontario Restaurant'. In the public feed, those entries have carried a note that outbreak episodes moved temporarily to a paid supporter feed, to recoup the cost of 'A Morale Dilemma', which the show calls its biggest project. Then there are the fake sponsors. A fictional founder named Todd pitches 'Manti-Venom' for bites of uncertain origin, the garden rake included, and a spoof drug called Ultrastigmine promises to banish the hat man after too much Benadryl, while still telling anyone actually seeing him to seek medical help and call a poison center. The credits call the show haphazardly written, produced and somehow hosted by Feldman. A sensible place to start is a 'Toxicologist vs The internet' installment, where the case reasoning is laid out step by step.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants to follow how a clinical toxicologist reasons through a poisoning, from vitals and history to the likely substance, and who enjoys that medicine broken up by deliberately silly spoof ads. It also suits someone curious about poisonous mushrooms or how mass poisonings get traced.
What sets it apart: The toxicology comes from a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist and stays at a clinical level of detail, down to medication stewardship and case workups. Around it the show builds spoof sponsor spots, a toxic-mushroom card game and a rhyming mushroom-safety book.
Dive into the captivating world of poisons with The Poison Lab! Hosted by Clinical Toxicologist Ryan Feldman (@EMPoisonPharmD), who has over a decade of managing poisoning and drug overdose via poison centers and in the emergency department. Also occasional co-hosted by his robo cohost Toxo! (@LabPoison). This show unpacks the fascinating history, cutting-edge science, and life-saving medical management of toxins from around the globe. From stories of those impacted to expert insights from pioneers in poisoning treatment, each episode brings you closer to understanding the poisons that lurk in plain sight. Explore episodes, med videos, games, and more at thepoisonlab.com—every poison has a s…
A fake venom-plasma pitch is your cue to bring curiosity, not your Bitcoin wallet.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A swallowed nickel leads into the darker chemistry of nickel carbonyl and the importance of exposure route.
Nickel gives the episode its odd, sturdy thread, running from a swallowed coin and a childhood stomachache into the chemistry of nickel carbonyl gas during nickel purification.
A live NACCT research review turns medication stewardship into a practical lesson in clinical uncertainty.
The Poison Lab brings NACCT 2025 into focus with a live discussion of clinical toxicology abstracts and the bedside decisions they can complicate.
A toxicology case turns familiar drug history into a search for the bleed behind a baffling presentation.
A toxicology case shows how a familiar drug history can steer clinical reasoning toward the wrong answer. Ryan and Dr. Joe Kennedy follow a patient with tachycardia, vomiting, no clear toxidrome, and a family member reporting frequent recreational drug use.
Morning medical evidence, compressed for practice.
Medical research, translated through patient experience.
The Poison Lab episode centers on a waste treatment plant mystery case that starts with cough and chest tightness, then progresses within 48 hours to altered mental status, fever, oxygen requirement, bilateral infiltrates, pulmonary hemorrhage, and pneumothorax.
This episode discusses an outbreak of thebaine poisoning from poppy seed tea in Australia, covering the toxic alkaloid, symptoms, and public health response.
Ryan from The Poison Lamp announces his new children's book, 'Poisonous Fungus Among Us,' a rhyming guide to mushroom anatomy and foraging safety.
["NACCT 2025 in Chicago is dominated here by 13 amlodipine abstracts, a beta blocker hypoglycemia cohort, and a fatal IV Lokelma route error.", "Ryan, a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist who served as abstract chair, and Dr.
The Poison Lab episode with Dr.
The Poison Lab pairs host Ryan, a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist, with Dr.
Robert Bassett explains why mushroom symptoms after six hours can signal greater danger than vomiting within six hours.
Ryan Feldman’s mystery case features a 39-year-old woman with potassium of 1.3 and creatinine of 3.5 after starting an herbal supplement.
Ryan, a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine pharmacist, convenes authors of three 2024 studies on naloxone during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
PFAS can remain in the body for three to five years, and Dr.
A special episode of The Poison Lab where listeners critique the AHA 2023 poisoning guidelines and authors respond.
This episode features an announcement about a poisonous mushroom card game, Gotta Pick'Em, and a discussion of AHA 2023 guidelines on poisoning cardiac arrest with co-author Dr.
This episode is a pre-roll announcement for a poisonous mushroom card game, not the actual AHA update.
This episode discusses who seizes in bupropion overdose with Dr.
Dr Joshua Trebach discusses toxicology myths and the internet, with a pre-roll announcement about a poisonous mushroom card game.