Pick Your Poison
Pick Your Poison
Dr. JP
Dr. JP shares her passion for poisons in this interactive show. Pick Your Poison is a fast-paced, interactive podcast about poisons and toxins, mischief and murder ranging from ancient history to pop culture. Your choices direct the diagnosis and treatment. Make the wrong choice and our patient won’t survive the podcast.
Green Fairy: Psychosis at the Absinthe Bar
A notorious green spirit served in a Belle Époque bar. A violent patient hallucinating and fighting invisible enemies. And a medical myth linked to some of history’s most famous artists. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive emergency medicine and toxicology case involving sudden psychosis, dangerous behavior, hallucinations, substance use, medical versus psychiatric causes, and the myths surrounding a mysterious green drink. Send us Fan Mail
Jul 21
22 min
Wild Mistake: A Deadly Foraging Mystery
A harmless-looking plant gathered for a wilderness dinner. An ancient remedy for madness associated with Heracles. And a flower carrying the same kind of cardiac poison found in toxic toads. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive wilderness and emergency medicine case involving mistaken foraging, plant poisoning, vomiting, dangerous heart rhythms, persistent symptoms, and ancient Greek medicine. Send us Fan Mail
Jul 7
21 min
Poisoned Paper: The Prison Contraband Mystery
A normal conversation followed by unconsciousness within minutes. A drug abandoned as too dangerous for medicine but reborn on the illicit market. And prison contraband hidden on an apparently blank sheet of paper. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive emergency and forensic toxicology case involving highly potent synthetic-drug exposure, sudden respiratory depression, hidden prison contraband, overdose reversal, and a scene with no pills or powder. Send us Fan Mail
Jun 23
21 min
Breathless: The Paleolithic Hazard Hiding in Modern Kitchens
Want to know what toxin has been killing workers since Paleolithic times—and is hiding in modern kitchens? The ancient Romans called it a widow-maker… because husbands died so quickly, some women had as many as seven. Listen to find out! Send us Fan Mail
Jun 9
22 min
Burning Desire: Insect toxin, aphrodisiac, and poison
An animal that poisons without biting or stinging. An infamous aphrodisiac behind centuries of terrible decisions. And a blistering substance used as a murder weapon. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive forensic toxicology case involving animal-derived exposure, severe skin and urinary-tract injury, internal burns, gastrointestinal symptoms, kidney damage, and a long history of malicious poisoning. Send us Fan Mail
May 26
22 min
Cold Fire: Poison that can combust in the ER
A poison that can burst into flame in the emergency department. Vomit and stool dangerous enough to threaten the medical team. And a possible answer to the missing bones of Waterloo. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive emergency and hazardous-materials case involving spontaneous combustion, severe gastrointestinal injury, liver failure, patient decontamination, staff safety, and battlefield history. Send us Fan Mail
May 13
21 min
Killer Candy: The killer candy found in King Tut's tomb
A candy flavor beloved around the world. An ancient treat found in King Tut’s tomb and rumored to make camels less thirsty. And an overdose that drives blood pressure up while throwing the heart out of rhythm. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive medical toxicology case involving candy and herbal-product exposure, severe hypertension, low potassium, muscle weakness, cardiac arrhythmias, and electrolyte treatment. Send us Fan Mail
Apr 28
21 min
Breathing Fire: A Toxic Lung Emergency
Fire eaters who damage their lungs without being burned. Hot-tub users who develop a serious respiratory illness. And gasoline thieves poisoned by the way they steal it. Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive pulmonary and emergency medicine case involving hydrocarbon aspiration, chemical pneumonitis, cough, low oxygen, secondary infection, and treatment that may not involve antibiotics. Send us Fan Mail
Apr 14
21 min
Poisoned by Paleontology: A Blowgun Poison Mystery
Today's episode is about a toxin so powerful that a little smeared on the tip of a blowgun arrow is enough to silence every muscle in your body, including your diaphragm, stopping your breathing. How did a poison like this become a commonly used drug in modern medicine? We'll also go inside a Siberian prison cell where one of the most high-profile political prisoners on the planet collapses and dies. Was this a state-sponsored assassination using a poison from the rainforest? List...
Mar 31
21 min
Locked In: Fever, Paralysis, and a Mystery Pill
A fever that refuses to break with ordinary medicine. Muscles rigid enough to trap a conscious patient inside the body. And the diagnostic chaos caused by “a round white pill.” Your patient. Your diagnosis. Your decision. An interactive medication-safety case involving a severe drug reaction, hyperthermia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, medication identification, supportive care, and competing diagnoses. Send us Fan Mail
Mar 17
23 min
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