Background: Cardiac arrest on the wards may be preceded by unmet palliative care needs, including advance care planning and specialty palliative consultation that can seek to align patients’ prognoses and goals for care. Identification of hospitalized patients with limited life expectancy allows for the delivery of appropriate palliative interventions. However, the prognosis on admission of [...]

Background: The Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is a physiological scoring system developed to identify patients in early stages of clinical deterioration and prevent delays in proper care. It consists of systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature and level of consciousness. Higher MEWS are associated with greater mortality and need for intensive care. [...]

Case Presentation: A 24 year-old male presented with chest pain and a diarrheal illness. He complained of intermittent chest pains which began two weeks prior, described as retrosternal, aggravated by lying down and improving on sitting up. One week following this, he started experiencing fevers, chills along with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Given persistent high [...]

Case Presentation: A 26 year old man with past medical history of obstructive sleep apnea and oxycodone abuse presented to the emergency department after cardiac arrest. According to family members, the patient was seen ingesting an unknown quantity of ibogaine at home with the main purpose of treating his opioid addiction. Shortly after ingestion, the [...]