Fatalities directly attributable to ayahuasca alone are extremely rare. A review of US poison control data over ten years identified three fatalities among 531 ayahuasca exposure calls, though many of these cases involved polydrug use or pre-existing conditions rather than ayahuasca in isolation (Heise and Brooks, 2017). The risk of death from ayahuasca in a well-screened, properly facilitated ceremony in an otherwise healthy individual is very low. The risk increases substantially when the contraindications listed above are ignored, when dangerous drug combinations are present, or when participants have undisclosed cardiovascular or psychiatric conditions.
