All posts tagged: overdose

Can you overdose on cough drops? Short answer: Yes.

Can you overdose on cough drops? Short answer: Yes.

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. We all know the feeling—a throbbing in your throat that won’t go away. Coughing offers only a momentary respite as your sore throat worsens throughout the day. At times like these, many of us reach for a soothing lozenge to calm the irritation and provide some relief, at least for a short while. But what about when the tickle comes back and you reach for another throat lozenge? How many cough drops is too many cough drops? And what’s the worst that can happen if you go overboard? Dr. Kait Brown, clinical managing director at America’s Poison Centers, assures that dangerous cough drop overdoses are extremely rare. But that doesn’t mean we should pop them like candy. “What we get concerned about is the menthol within the cough drops, and rarely there may be some that have benzocaine, which is a local anaesthetic,” she says. In very high doses, these ingredients can cause symptoms, including vomiting, dizziness, and even …

‘Looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular rushed to hospital for ‘suspected overdose’ during livestream

‘Looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular rushed to hospital for ‘suspected overdose’ during livestream

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Social media influencer Clavicular has been rushed to hospital in Miami for a suspected overdose. The controversial streamer, whose real name is Braden Peters, was taken to hospital where he’s currently in a “stable condition”, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Clavicular had been livestreaming on the site Kick on Tuesday (14 April) when the broadcast suddenly ended. Fans became concerned after video footage, appearing to show the influencer being carried into an ambulance by his security team, began circulating online. Clavicular is known for his ‘looksmaxxing’ videos (TalkTV) Before the livestream ended, Clavicular could be seen telling a woman: “Holy s*** dude, I’m trying my best, but I’m f***ing destroyed right now.” He then sat down in a bar with friends, with one asking …

Clavicular Hospitalized After Suspected Overdose While on Livestream

Clavicular Hospitalized After Suspected Overdose While on Livestream

Published by Daniella Wilson

‘Looksmaxxing’ influencer and streamer Clavicular has been hospitalized after suffering a suspected overdose Tuesday evening, a source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The “looksmaxxing” influencer and online streamer, whose real name is Braden Peters, was taken to the hospital, where he’s currently in “stable condition,” THR has learned. He was still in the hospital as of Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, Clavicular was livestreaming on Kick when it abruptly cut off, sparking concern among fans. Video was later shared on X of the streamer being carried by several people to a black car as an ambulance arrived at the scene. THR has also reached out to the Miami Police Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department for more information. Clavicular gained recognition for his self-obsession with being aesthetically pleasing and for promoting extreme “looksmaxxing” — an online trend, popular among young men, focused on maximizing physical attractiveness. The trend ranges from healthy grooming to dangerous practices, such as bone-smashing using a hammer to enhance facial features, which Clavicular has advocated. Earlier this week, the controversial streamer …

Historic decline in U.S. overdose deaths threatened by changing street drug supply : NPR

Historic decline in U.S. overdose deaths threatened by changing street drug supply : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A forensic chemist with the Drug Enforcement Administration holds vials of fentanyl pills at a DEA research laboratory in this file photo. Fentanyl deaths are plunging in the U.S, but the recovery is threatened by a new “synthetic soup” of toxic street drugs. Mark Schiefelbein/AP/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Schiefelbein/AP/AP Earlier this year, Naida Rutherford, the coroner in Richland County, South Carolina, was helping investigate what appeared to be a mysterious overdose. The case had many of the hallmarks of a typical fentanyl death. “Every sort of physical manifestation, like the foam coming from the mouth and nose, as if they had an overdose,” Rutherford said. “Their blood tested negative for any substance, which was very odd.” Her team was stumped, so Rutherford expanded the testing, looking for new compounds. “That’s where we found the cychlorphine,” she told NPR, referring to one of the incredibly potent synthetic opioids spreading fast in the U.S. street drug supply. “This is the first time we’ve seen it in South Carolina, which is very scary because none of …

Why drug overdose deaths have suddenly plummeted in the US

Why drug overdose deaths have suddenly plummeted in the US

Published by skeptic

Deaths related to the opioid fentanyl have rapidly declined in the US Thomas Simonetti/Bloomberg/Getty Images Drug overdose deaths have plummeted in the US, which can be traced to illegal supplies of fentanyl becoming less pure, and therefore less potent. The question is: does this mark a turning point in the opioid epidemic or just a temporary lull? Since 1999, the US has reported more than 1 million deaths from a drug overdose. Besides a small dip in 2018, the toll rose nearly every year until 2023, when deaths fell by nearly 3 per cent. They then nosedived, falling a further 26 per cent the next year. To understand what is driving this shift, Joseph Friedman at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues have analysed overdose deaths from 1999 until 2024. They collected the data from the National Vital Statistics System, which records every death in the US, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database, which tracks any substances involved. The team found that fentanyl-related deaths fell from nearly …

Comedian Andy Dick shares health update after overdose led to rehab stay

Comedian Andy Dick shares health update after overdose led to rehab stay

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Andy Dick has shared that he checked out of rehab and moved into a sober living house after a drug overdose in December. Less than 50 days after he was admitted into the Palm Springs treatment center following an overdose on the streets of Los Angeles, the 60-year-old comedian said Monday that he will focus on his recovery while living at a facility near Beverly Hills, California. Dick told TMZ that he plans to take his sobriety journey one step at a time. The convicted sex offender checked into rehab in early December with the help of his longtime friends Jennifer Gimenez, who was on the show Celebrity Rehab with him, and her husband Tim Ryan. The couple said they secured him a “full …

Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Are Now Falling Sharply, and You’ll Never Guess Why

Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Are Now Falling Sharply, and You’ll Never Guess Why

Published by José Betancourt

For many years, the United States has waged a bitter battle against fentanyl. The staggering number of overdose deaths caused by the drug has been used by Donald Trump’s administration to justify attacking boats in the Caribbean, deploy militarized forces to detain legal citizens, and impose sweeping tariffs — despite having little data to prove that its target countries, including Canada, were actually to blame. The president went as far as to sign an executive order calling the highly addictive and extremely potent synthetic opiate a “weapon of mass destruction.” Yet the latest research shows something inconvenient for that narrative: a sharp reduction in fentanyl overdoses that started before Trump took office, almost certainly in response to policy under his predecessor Joe Biden. As researchers noted in a paper published in the journal Science this week, fatal overdoses from synthetic opioids like fentanyl plummeted after peaking at 76,000 in 2023 in the US, dropping by over a third by the end of 2024. (Full numbers aren’t in yet for 2025, but provisional data from the …

Sudden drop in fentanyl overdose deaths linked to Biden-era global supply shock

Sudden drop in fentanyl overdose deaths linked to Biden-era global supply shock

Published by José Betancourt

For more than a decade, the United States has faced a relentless and heartbreaking increase in fatal drug overdoses driven by synthetic opioids. A new analysis suggests this trend has suddenly reversed due to a major disruption in the global supply chain of illicit fentanyl. Published in Science, the study indicates that regulatory actions taken by the Chinese government, following high-level diplomatic engagement with the Biden administration, may be the primary driver behind this unexpected decline in mortality. The trajectory of the American overdose crisis has been grim for fifteen years. Deaths attributed to synthetic opioids rose more than 25-fold during that period. The annual toll reached a record high of 76,000 deaths in 2023. Yet, starting in the middle of that year, the numbers began to fall. By the end of 2024, the rate of fentanyl overdose deaths had dropped by more than one-third. Public health officials and policymakers have struggled to explain this abrupt shift. It is often difficult to determine the cause of market fluctuations because illicit drug trafficking organizations operate in …

The overdose crisis is turning around

The overdose crisis is turning around

Published by Sam Flores

Overdose deaths are falling at a pace the United States has not seen in decades. Centers for Disease Control projections show a nearly 25% decline for the twelve months ending in April 2025. But the meaning of that decline shows up long before it appears in national reports. It shows up in a son who makes it home from work, in a daughter who stays in treatment long enough to rebuild her life, in the quiet, daily act of someone returning home to the people who love them. It shows up in having another table setting at the holiday dinner. These moments of return do not happen by chance. They happen because public policy finally aligns with evidence and because communities were able to use tools we already know save lives. Policymakers expanded access to medications for opioid use disorder, protected telehealth for addiction treatment and widened community access to naloxone. People are home for the holidays because life-saving systems were finally allowed to fully function. Whether this progress continues depends on the choices we …