We are repeatedly told that children have died from contact with Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea and I cannot imagine something more tragic. With each retelling the stories become more frightening. Like the Broken Telephone game where a child's puke becomes a poisoning, morphing into a fatality, as each writer strives to be readable and avoids obvious plagiarism by putting the story into their own words. With each repetition the story gets worse and worse.
I have tried to follow such tales to the original case, only to see them disappear just as I thought that I was getting close. We are told many times of fatalities where children supposedly drank water from a vase of Foxglove flowers. I thought that this story would be validated in a paper that was published in the highly respected Pediatrics. (1974;54;374) by none other than Kenneth F. Lampe co-author of the A.M.A. Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants. (1985)
The article, Systematic Plant Poisoning in Children is most disappointing since once again no actual case is cited. He avers that children have been fataly poisoned by drinking water from a flower vase. He does not tell us who the children were or if they were babies, toddlers or older infants. I want much more than that. Where and when did this happen ? Were the plants correctly identified ? Who was the attending physician ? Were remedies attempted ? What was the cause of death as declared on the Death Certificate ? He answers none of these questions. He is the famous doctor (Ph.D) and toxology expert and we are expected to take his word for it.
In fact there was no vase of flower water. It is a notional vase in which he not only imagines Foxglove but Oleander and Lily of the Valley too. We are being told a cautionary tale and being taught by parable. Now the story is being repeated and elaborated on by every Poison Centre in the English-speaking world and unthinking writers everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment