Doctors debate claim of fatal marijuana overdose

An 11-month-old baby died in Colorado

(NBC News 2017)

DENVER, Co. (KUSA) – Two poison control doctors claim to have documented the first known case of death by marijuana overdose, sparking a medical debate over what killed an 11-month-old baby in Colorado two years ago.

The doctors behind the case report, Doctors Thomas Nappe and Christopher Hoyte, worked on the baby's care as part of their duties at the regional poison control center. They claim that damage to the child's heart muscle, which was listed as the boy's cause of death, was brought on by ingesting marijuana.

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"The only thing that we found was marijuana. High concentrations of marijuana in his blood. And that's the only thing we found," Hoyte said. "The kid never really got better. And just one thing led to another and the kid ended up with a heart stopped. And the kid stopped breathing and died."

If correct, the phenomenon Dr. Hoyte claims to have documented would remain the only time a marijuana overdose is known to have caused a human death.

Other doctors are deeply skeptical of the strong language used in the report.

Read more here.