Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

A new painkiller from a poisonous blowfish?

Nov 30, 2003 2:58AM PST
TORONTO (Reuters) - A tiny Canadian company wants to use poison from a fish -- a substance more toxic than cyanide -- to help cancer patients suppress pain or to wean heroin addicts off their habit.

The new drug is derived from a blowfish poison -- a substance so dangerous that a mere trace can paralyze a person within minutes.

The blowfish is known to gourmets as the source of the sometimes deadly Japanese fugu delicacy, a dish that can be prepared only by trained and licensed chefs, because the slip of a knife can poison the food, causing the diner to drop to the ground convulsing and gasping for air.

It has been described as the culinary version of Russian roulette.

But the drug derived from the poison, tetrodotoxin, has already passed two phases of clinical tests, and doctors conducting early surveys say it eased pain in terminally ill cancer patients, where no other pain medication had worked.


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3910979

Angeline
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: A new painkiller from a poisonous blowfish?
Nov 30, 2003 5:00AM PST

Hi, Angeline.

The same toxin is reportedly used by voodoo witch doctors in the process of zombification.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

- Collapse -
I hope this one pans out. So many need relief.
Nov 30, 2003 7:28AM PST

..