In our study, verified bites of spiders from the state of
Oregon did not result in significant medical conditions. This
is similar to the conclusions of Nentwig et al. (2013) for 14
Swiss spider bites and Isbister and Gray (2002) for most of
the 700 Australian spider bites after those of wellestablished
medical importance (i.e., Latrodectus, Atrax
and Hadronyche spiders) were excluded. The lack of medical
significance of verified spider bites of less toxic, generic
species is an important counterpoint to the decades of
presumptive and circumstantial case histories that exaggerated
spider bite episodes, leading to a tainted body of
toxicological information.