In a 2010 review published in Clinical Toxicology, an international team of researchers labeled colchicine a drug with a “dark side” and laid out the three stages of poisoning: The first is a gastrointestinal phase, the first 24 hours after the poisoning, in which damage to gastrointestinal mucosa leads to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort. It might look like severe food poisoning or cholera. Then there’s the second, multi-organ phase, from one to seven days after poisoning, in which the toxic effects spread around the body. There can be a variety of multi-organ dysfunction and metabolic derangements. Death often takes the form of faltering cardiovascular function and cardiac arrhythmia or arrest, but respiratory distress, liver failure, kidney failure, brain swelling, and secondary sepsis can also occur. For the lucky, the third phase is the recovery phase, which can last from seven to 21 days after the poisoning. In this phase, failing organs rebound, but patients might experience alopecia (hair loss) and other complications, including delirium, stupor and coma, convulsions, adrenal hemorrhage, and pancreatitis. In some rare cases, patients’ skin blisters and peels off…

Connor Bowman, 30, was arrested last Friday and charged Monday with second-degree murder in the death of Betty Bowman, 32, who worked as a pharmacist at the Mayo Clinic.

In an investigation that followed her suspicious death on August 20, police learned that the two were having marital problems, including a deteriorating relationship and infidelity, and were talking about a divorce. They also learned that Connor Bowman was in debt and stood to gain $500,000 in life insurance upon his wife’s demise.

Poison expert allegedly poisoned wife—with a shockingly toxic gout drug — https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/10/poison-expert-allegedly-poisoned-wife-with-a-shockingly-toxic-gout-drug/