A private inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the 1972 death of John Gomilla, Jr., who died after allegedly consuming ten hallucinogenic mushrooms while residing in Hawaii.
In December 1972, an 18-year-old male apparently took an accidental overdose of heroin. After becoming ill, he attempted to receive treatment for his condition by being admitted to the emergency room of Wahiawa General Hospital. When confronted by attending physicians in the emergency room as to the nature of his illness, the youth stated that he had only eaten 10 hallucinogenic mushrooms (an average dose for Copelandia cyanescens, the mushroom in question) and nothing else. This story was most likely concocted either by the youth himself or by some of his friends, who probably thought that they could or would be prosecuted for the use of an illegal substance. It is not uncommon that when confronted by an overdose of drugs, many young people are afraid to report their illness to the proper medical authorities out of fear of prosecution due to their illegal activities (Young et al. 1982). The doctors who attempted to treat this young man should not be held liable for his death, even though their treatment of the patient was more supportive (i.e., the talk-down method) than pharmacological. They had no way of knowing that the patient had lied to them about his condition. While it is true that several doctors had diagnosed Gomilla as possibly suffering from muscarine poisoning, why was no atropine or scopolamine administered to the patient? And why was his stomach not pumped and specimens collected for a toxicologist to study for the presence of toxins?(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Allen
J W
JW
D000293:Adolescent; D001344:Autopsy; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000506:poisoning*; D003932:Heroin / Q000506:poisoning*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009145:Mushroom Poisoning / Q000503:physiopathology*
D006213:Hallucinogens; D003932:Heroin