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Article: Medical Examiners Exchange Tales at San Jose, Calif., Conference.
- Article from:
- San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA)
- Article date:
- September 25, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 San Jose Mercury News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Barbara Feder Ostrov
Sep. 25--The nation's medical examiners descended upon San Jose this week for their annual conference, bringing with them shop talk of dismemberment by power saw, electrocution by houseboat and death by toilet paper.
Death by toilet paper?
The audience was rapt as a Cincinnati medical examiner explained how an epileptic woman prone to a rare condition called pica -- an uncontrollable craving for non-food materials such as dirt or paper -- overdosed on Soft n' Gentle toilet paper. The toilet paper absorbed the anti-epilepsy drugs she was taking, leading to a fatal seizure.
Such is the life of a medical ...