The Nation - News from Oct. 30, 1988

One of five people poisoned when they ate “death cap” mushrooms at a dinner party underwent liver transplant surgery in Portland, Ore., hours after the same operation was performed on a man whose mother also received a donor liver. Another person who shared the wild Amanita phalloides mushrooms received a donor liver earlier, and the fifth person was still being evaluated. Dr. Emmet Keeffe of the Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital said that Teresa Ok Hui Duncan, 43, the latest transplant patient, had shown signs of “deterioration in her mental faculties” but could still recognize relatives. Just before Duncan’s operation, surgery for Andy Clark, 33, of Hillsboro, was completed at the UC-San Francisco Medical Center. Authorities said the five ate the mushrooms on Oct. 22., apparently after picking them on an outing.