Overview
- Doctors say 23 suspected Amanita phalloides poisonings have been reported to California Poison Control since Nov. 18, including one fatal case.
- All patients were hospitalized; five remain in care, one has received a liver transplant, and another is awaiting a donor organ.
- Clusters have been identified in Monterey County and the San Francisco Bay Area, though health authorities caution the risk exists statewide.
- The state advises against eating foraged mushrooms because cooking, boiling, drying, or freezing does not neutralize amatoxins; suspected exposures should be reported to 1-800-222-1222.
- Clinicians note symptoms can be delayed and briefly improve before worsening, testing and treatment are limited, and the drug silibinin remains experimental and hard to obtain.