Mushroom poisoning: Doctors save pair with severe liver damage after eating wild fungi

WORCESTER, Mass. — A mother and son suffered life-threatening liver damage after eating mushrooms they had foraged for dinner.

According to WFXT-TV, a Massachusetts mother and her son were rushed to a hospital with severe liver damage and treated with an experimental drug after they consumed deadly mushrooms.

Kam Look and her son, Kai Chen, of Amherst, were gathering mushrooms a few weeks ago which they believed to look similar to ones that they had been able to forage in Malaysia safely, UMass Memorial Medical Center said in a news release.

While eating their meal, both became ill and were transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. Medical officials immediately recognized that they needed a higher level of intervention, so both patients were transferred to UMass Memorial Medical Center, according to WFXT.

The mother and son were both said to be suffering from severe, life-threatening liver damage with a death rate between 30 and 50%.

According to the hospital, a toxicology expert identified the mushroom poisoning, and an experimental drug was flown in from Philadelphia. Additional toxicology experts from around the country also consulted with the hospital on how to save the mother and son.

Kai was discharged from the hospital a few days later, but his mother needed “more dramatic intervention,” the hospital said.

Kam was placed on the transplant list in hopes that a donated liver could save her due to the severity of her organ damage. Fortunately, within a few days, she received the liver, and a “high-stakes” surgery was performed.

She spent several days intubated in the ICU and was monitored by transplant caregivers who used an array of medications to keep her stable. The station reported that she has been moved to an acute care floor and is expected to be placed in a rehabilitation facility.

Health officials said the mushroom poisoning is part of a larger concerning trend involving a subculture of foragers who have been scouring the internet to find and identify mushrooms not only to eat but for a psychedelic experience.

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