Whats up with all these mushroom poisionings?

[nzoomed]

Its enough to put anyone off mushrooms altogether. Clearly someone didn't know which are safe to use.

I think I read somewhere that in France, any pharmacy will check mushrooms for people - seems like a good idea.

There are resources available to check the edibility of foraged mushrooms. It's more a case of so many people now having lost their ability to be responsible for their own actions.

Wild mushrooms are a wonderful way to appreciate our own environment and little different from harvesting the wide range of plants available on our own doorsteps. We found good quantities of Tawaka mushrooms sprouting from a stand of Poplars on our property last Autumn. We did due diligence including from a fungi expert via the iNaturalist website and were rewarded with some very tasty meals as a result. Plenty of advice to avoid from those largely ignorant of mushroom foraging, and one friend who advised us to tether ourselves to a heavy piece of furniture prior to tasting, which said more about a mis-spent youth in her case than any real fungi knowledge

What's really scary is there is very little knowledge about the toxicity and compounds found in many mushrooms. Apparently we only have an understanding on the most common types and is an ever increasing field of research. 
I sent some samples of field mushrooms up to mushroom gourmet once and he paid me for the trouble!