Dr. Robert Buchanan’s murder trial captivated the public with its shocking details and gruesome display. Take a deep dive into the tragic story of this physician, where, not one, but two innocent lives were caught in the wake of one man’s pride.

From controlling libido to epilepsy, bromides surged in popularity but experienced an equally precipitous decline in 19th century medicine. As the paradigm of disease explanation progressed from humors to pathology, bromides established a therapeutic foothold during this revolutionary period. What followed, however, were urban myths and consequences of toxicological significance. Used so ubiquitously, bromides earned a place in the colloquial lexicon as remarks repeated with such frequency that they become cliché or trite. Yet, this exploration on bromism promises to be anything but.

There is a long, perhaps to be forgotten, history of clinicians performing observational n=1 studies upon themselves to “prove” their safety and efficacy of the proposed therapy. The talk is to describe toxicology-related examples of this now discouraged practice.

The episode traces how the FDA evolved from a modest watchdog born of early 20th-century drug tragedies into a powerful regulatory agency, highlighting key reforms that reshaped American medicine. It then unpacks the long-standing “homeopathy loophole,” explaining how a century-old provision allowed homeopathic remedies to bypass modern scientific standards and why that exemption still fuels debate today.

Dr. William Palmer, surgeon, gambler, toxic murderer. The historical account of Dr Palmer and the events that made him a notorious serial killer.

Karen Wetterhahn, a super star organic chemist at Dartmouth College who worked on heavy metal toxicity, presented to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital on January, 20th 1997. She was profoundly ill, and shortly lapsed into a coma. Her records were scoured and her medical team was able to trace her symptoms back to a single exposure she had received 6 months earlier in her laboratory.

Methylene blue is a vividly blue dye that holds the distinction of being the first fully synthetic medication to be given to human beings, and played a major part in the scientific advances of the late 19th century. Its almost unnatural hue belies its modern use as a life-saving antidote to methemoglobinemia.

Apples have been associated being forbidden fruit and source of nefarious poisonings all throughout folklore. This presentation delves into whether there is any historical legitimacy to these tales, and if we have anything to fear when it comes to an apple a day.