Recent case reports in the medical literature indicate that cocaine causes liver damage in humans as well. The livers were significantly enlarged. The liver samples were examined to find out the kind of damage that cocaine does to the liver.
Damage can be severe.
Cocaine first causes liver enlargement, then breaks cells apart in one particular zone of the liver. In acetaminophen poisoning, it takes up to 48 hours for these signs of liver damage to develop. The four cocaine users in this study developed their symptoms within a few hours of cocaine use. In one person, so many liver cells were destroyed that she died. The microscopic pathology of the liver in fatal cocaine intoxication.