Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Food Poisoning by Oleander Skewers: Investigation of a Toxicologic Urban Legend

  • Special Article
  • Published:
Journal of Medical Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Brunvand, Jan Harold. The vanishing hitchhiker : American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. 1st ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company; 1981.

  2. Bandara V, Weinstein SA, White J, Eddleston M. A review of the natural history, toxinology, diagnosis and clinical management of Nerium oleander (common oleander) and Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander) poisoning. Toxicon. 2010;56(3):273–81.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Hack JB, Lewin NA. Cardioactive steroids. In: Flomenbaum NE, Goldfrank LR, Hoffman RS, Howland MA, Lewin NA, Nelson LS, editors. Goldfrank’s toxicologic emergencies. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2006. p. 971–83.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Konstantinovsky M. Oleander is a poisonous plant, not a cure for COVID-19. HowStuffWorks. August 18, 2020. Available at: https://home.howstuffworks.com/oleander.htm Accessed September 10, 2023.

  5. Langford SD, Boor PJ. Oleander toxicity: an examination of human and animal toxic exposures. Toxicology. 1996;109(1):1–13.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mikkelson D. Oleander poisoning: did a troop of boy scouts die after roasting hot dogs on oleander branches? In: fact checks, horrors. snopes. 2011. Available at: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fatal-wienie-roast/. Accessed May 16, 2023.

  7. Benham FL. Two cases of acute poisoning by oil of Eucalyptus. The Lancet. 1905;166(4296):1894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Fuller TC, McClintock E. Poisonous plants of California. California Natural History Guides: 53. Berkeley CA: University of California Press; 1986. p. 78.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Johns CA. Flowers of the field. 21st ed. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; 1885. p. 411.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Reveil MO. Memoire sur le laurier rose (Nerium oleander, apocynées), par M. LATOUR. J Pharm de Chimie. 1857;32:332–5.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Empoisonnement par la Cigue des Jardins et par le Laurier-Rose [poisoning by the garden conium and the rose laurel]. J Chimie Méd Pharm Toxicol 1843; Ser IX:392–4.

  12. Réveil O. Empoisonnement Par l’If (Taxus baccata coniferes.) [Poisoning by yew.] J Chim Méd Pharm Toxicol 1857; Ser III: 249–51.

  13. Larue MJ. Empoisonnement par le Nerion, Laurier-Rose [Poisoning by the rose laurel, Nerium oleander]. J Chim Méd Pharm Toxicol. 1843;Ser IX:535–8.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dr. Goulion. Old and new facts about oleander. Homoeopathic Recorder. 1897;XII:402–5.

  15. Suchet L-G. Memoirs of the war in Spain, from 1808 to 1814. Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street; 1829. Facsimile edition published in Tyneside, Great Britain, Worley Publications; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Culbert D. Oleanders for Florida. Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Lim DC, Hegewald K, Dandamudi N, Pettis JL. A suicide attempt with an oleander cocktail. Chest. 1999;116(4):405–6.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Nelson GL. Fire and pesticides, a review and analysis of recent work. Fire Technol. 2000;36:163–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Perkins KD, Payne WW. Guide to the poisonous and irritant plants of Florida, Circular 441. Gainesville, Florida: Cooperative Extension Service Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida; 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kingsbury, John M. Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1964, pp. 31, 208–16, 264–67.

  21. Carter, Constance. Poisonous plants, LC Science Tracer Bullet, Science Reference Section, Science and Technology Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ISSN 0090–5232, LC-TB-90–4, July 1990.

  22. Suchard J, Greb A. Negligible oleandrin content of hot dogs cooked on Nerium oleander skewers. J Med Toxicol. 2021;17(1):57–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Irvine Health, 3800 W. Chapman Ave, Suite #3200, Orange, CA, 92868, USA

    Jeffrey R. Suchard

  2. UC Irvine School of Medicine, Medical Education, 836 Health Sciences Road, Irvine, CA, 92697-4089, USA

    Jerald Lim & Kenneth Schmitt

Authors
  1. Jeffrey R. Suchard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jerald Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kenneth Schmitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey R. Suchard.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

None.

Sources of Funding.

None.

Additional information

Supervising Editor: Howard Greller, MD

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Suchard, J.R., Lim, J. & Schmitt, K. Food Poisoning by Oleander Skewers: Investigation of a Toxicologic Urban Legend. J. Med. Toxicol. 20, 222–225 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-024-00993-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-024-00993-3

Search

Navigation