Snake-bite victim charged $55,000 by hospital!

[mello]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-victim-socked-with--55k-bill-150152873.html

She got gouged...and not by the snake. I'm curious as to how she racked up $15,000 worth of bills from an 18-hour stay. I can justify the price of the anti-venom since it is probably difficult, dangerous, & time-consuming to make but I don't buy the other 15 grand she was charged. Did she have 50 doctors working on her for the entire time? It said in the article that she had three bags of anti-venom over 18 hours which I assume that she received through an I.V. That means a nurse probably hooked her up & she just sat there and waited as the anti-venom went in. The nurse came back twice to swap in a fresh bag of anti-venom. Why did that cost 15 grand?

[FrankRep]

Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.

The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.

[oyarde]

Anti venom is indeed very expensive , and usually administered heavily .Not sure how you get to 15k in 18 hrs , sounds like a price tag on a heart attack , but then they have usually gone in and put in a stent ....

[angelatc]

According to Ben Swann, the Obama administration has hired a propaganda team to change the public's mind about national health care. This story seems to be newsworthy for only that reason.

[TruckinMike]

She should have gone to the vet.

My two labs (not Cap'n Parker) were bit by a rattlesnake last year and it only cost a little over $500 for both of them. And that included a three day stay for observation and care. Most vets don't even use anti-venom anymore. They found that flushing the system with with fluids (via IV) is the best method of care. Hospitals know they can milk a human of all they are worth --- so they do. If your dog was going to cost that much you would simply put him to sleep.

Edit:

Back when Cap'n Parker was bit (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?20373-Captain-Parker-sign-dog-bit-by-Rattlesnake) it only cost $900 and $500 of that was the anti-venom.

[Acala]

My ex wife had a heart attack a few years ago. They roto-rooted her artery, popped in a stent, and had her wide awake in recovery in about an hour. The bill was over $50,000. This is what happens when government restricts the supply with regulation and gooses the demand with subsidy. Three cheers for crony-capitalism!

By the way, I don't have any problem with the producer of anti-venom charging whatever the market will bear. Smart people would buy snake bite insurance. It would cost a pittance because the risk is so very low.

[FrankRep]

I should get into the snake milking industry. :-p

[Keith and stuff]

By the way, I don't have any problem with the producer of anti-venom charging whatever the market will bear. Smart people would buy snake bite insurance. It would cost a pittance because the risk is so very low.

Easy to avoid, too. Move to Alaska, Maine or New Hampshire where this isn't an issue. No expensive bills from scorpion stings, either.

[phill4paul]

I should get into the snake milking industry. :-p

I remember going to see this guy as a child....

http://www.pbase.com/image/64581068


BY LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

IN PUNTA GORDA: Bill Hasst sold his Miami Serpentarium site in Pinecrest in 1984, and settled in southwest Florida. 'There is no reason to visit Miami. I've outlived all my friends down there.'
FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

King cobras. Green mambas. Palm vipers. Name a deadly snake and Bill Haast has either tamed it or been bitten by it.

For almost four decades, Haast charmed curious tourists who flocked to his South Dixie Highway attraction, the Miami Serpentarium, to watch his snake show.

Haast's death-defying act didn't disappoint. In his trademark white lab coat, he would approach a venomous reptile, lure it with one hand and grab its head with the other. He would shove the snake's fangs into the top of a vial and watch the venom trickle down.

Jaws dropped. Children shrieked in horrified glee.

''It was the best snake show there ever will be,'' said George Van Horn, a frequent visitor who now runs a similar attraction in Central Florida.

Haast, the world-renowned ''Miami snakeman,'' is now 95 and living on a sprawling Punta Gorda ranch with his third wife, Nancy -- and 400 snakes that supply his venom-selling Miami Serpentarium Laboratories.

''I know a lot of people in Miami still remember the Serpentarium and wonder what became of me, that's why I'm talking to you,'' said Haast, who would only be interviewed by telephone.

''At 95, he doesn't like to do anything that takes time away from his lab work,'' added his wife.

Haast is still trying to prove a point: He'll go to his grave believing venom can heal.

VENOM `POSTER BOY'

The medical establishment -- and the Food and Drug Administration -- never bought into Haast's enthusiasm for the lethal snake juice as treatment for multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis and Parkinson's disease.

In his case, he claims the venom has helped him live a long and healthy life -- with the exception of his snakebitten hands.

''I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom,'' Haast jokes. ``If I live to be 100 I'll really make the point.''

Every week, Haast still injects his arm with a cocktail of venom from five snakes -- cobras, mambas, kraits, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.

The injections are a routine he began in 1948 -- the year he opened the Serpentarium -- and continued after he closed it in 1984. Originally, the shots immunized Haast against snake bites, an occupational hazard.

Now, he believes, the long-term benefits of the shots have spared him from many of the maladies of old age. ``I feel like a man in his 60s.''

But Haast no longer can handle the forked-tongued killers that made him famous. He said his last snakebite, Number 173 suffered in 2003 -- courtesy of a Malaysian pit viper -- was the final blow to his hands, already mangled from years of enduring the nerve- and tissue-destroying poison that snakes spew when biting.

His hands are gnarled and deadened, some fingers hang immobile, some look stunted in growth, and a pinky and index finger have been amputated at the knuckle, photographs taken by his wife reveal.

''I can no longer open my hands wide or make a fist,'' Haast explained. ``I can't complain. My hands served me well.''


more at link...

[jbauer]

Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.

The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.

That's crap, the article says with insurance it would bring the price down to a couple hundred. That means that the insurance company has negotiated the cost down to nearly nothing meaning that the actual cost of the anti-venom isn't all that much because if it was the treatment would be expensive regardless if you do or do not have insurance.
Further, copperheads are not some mysterious snake they are quite common and bites from them are not terribly uncommon.

[jbauer]

Easy to avoid, too. Move to Alaska, Maine or New Hampshire where this isn't an issue. No expensive bills from scorpion stings, either.

Right, go where the bears and moose are that way its a mauling not a bite. There's dangers everywhere, moving isn't always the answer.

[Ender]

She should have gone to the vet.

My two labs (not Cap'n Parker) were bit by a rattlesnake last year and it only cost a little over $500 for both of them. And that included a three day stay for observation and care. Most vets don't even use anti-venom anymore. They found that flushing the system with with fluids (via IV) is the best method of care. Hospitals know they can milk a human of all they are worth --- so they do. If your dog was going to cost that much you would simply put him to sleep.

Edit:

Back when Cap'n Parker was bit (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?20373-Captain-Parker-sign-dog-bit-by-Rattlesnake) it only cost $900 and $500 of that was the anti-venom.

Yep.

And everyone should become acquainted with natural health remedies- cheap and usually much more effective.

[Keith and stuff]

Right, go where the bears and moose are that way its a mauling not a bite. There's dangers everywhere, moving isn't always the answer.

Ive actively chased black bears in AK. A stray dog is typically more menacing. But yes, I'd avoid brown and white colored bears in AK. The bear and moose are of almost no danger in NH and ME. Bears can usually be fended off with a random stick, even by women. Being loud almost always prevents bears from even being anywhere near you. Moose are dangerous if you are driving in a few areas during a certain time of day and you aren't watching the area near the road. Poisonous spiders are also a much lower concern in NH and ME than most of the country. Very few fleas, also. Some ticks have diseases but that is true everywhere and only costs around $100 to fix.

So why did you mention bears again?

[Acala]

Easy to avoid, too. Move to Alaska, Maine or New Hampshire where this isn't an issue. No expensive bills from scorpion stings, either.

I'll take a scorpion sting over Lyme disease any day.

[Brian4Liberty]

As Rand Paul said last night on the Daily Show, this is a direct result of health insurance. "Consumers" are insulated from paying the "retail" prices, thus the prices rise astronomically. Of course the insurance companies can negotiate that price lower, but the basic driver remains, and they can raise prices as much as they want.

Think about it this way. It's like taking out a fire insurance policy, and you exercise that policy every day. You fill your house with goods, it burns down, you get paid for the contents. How much does it cost to replace the contents of the house? First time it might be $30,000. But it will rise over time. Next time $40,000. After years of this, you are saying it costs $100,000,000 dollars. Itemize that? Sure. Toaster: $50,000. TV: $1,000,000. Toothbrush: $500. Can of soup: $100.

[Keith and stuff]

I'll take a scorpion sting over Lyme disease any day.

Why get either? Though, the scorpion bite was $40,000 to fix. Lyme is $100. You are confusing me.

[TruckinMike]

Yep.

And everyone should become acquainted with natural health remedies- cheap and usually much more effective.

Oops. I forgot...when I was a kid I was bit by a copperhead and wasn't given an IV or anti-venom. My ankle swoll up and I felt a little sick. Lucky for me the snake only had one fang. But the hospital bill was small. Back in the early seventies it didn't cost an arm and a leg to visit the ER. LoL!

Thats funny, the only person in my immediate family that has not made a trip to the hospital for a snake bite is my wife...I'll tell her that she's next. Ha Ha!

[jbauer]

So why did you mention bears again?

You are the one suggesting everyone in any place in the world that has any chance of a not so good encounter with wildlife move to some other area on the planet. Its about the most irrational suggestion I've seen on a message board in a long time. Bad things happen to good people all the time regardless of location.

Its called life.

[Keith and stuff]

You are the one suggesting everyone in any place in the world that has any chance of a not so good encounter with wildlife move to some other area on the planet. Its about the most irrational suggestion I've seen on a message board in a long time. Bad things happen to good people all the time regardless of location.

Its called life.
Lol. Thanks for the opportunity to speak on other reasons to move to New Hampshire. Here are 101 of them. http://freestateproject.org/about/why-new-hampshire

No snake or scorpion bites, other good reasons to move :)

[tod evans]

Wonder what bit her?

I've been bit by a copperhead before, benadryl and a day and I was fine...

Every body reacts differently to venom though...

[Lucille]

She should have gone to a veterinarian, or maybe Mexico.

Arizona woman feeling the pain from a $83,046 bill for anti-venom drug after seeking medical treatment for scorpion sting
Marcie Edmonds was stung in Phoenix and needed two doses of the anti-venom Anascorp — which would have only cost her $100 per dose in MEXICO!

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/arizona-woman-feeling-pain-83-046-bill-anti-venom-drug-seeking-medical-treatment-scorpion-sting-article-1.1152754#ixzz2brzZB9KR

[oyarde]

Wonder what bit her?

I've been bit by a copperhead before, benadryl and a day and I was fine...

Every body reacts differently to venom though...

Hers was a copperhead too.

[tod evans]

Hers was a copperhead too.

I feel for her...

Epinephrine pencils are available for anaphylaxis if a person knows they're liable to react...

[paulbot24]

I feel for her...

Epinephrine pencils are available for anaphylaxis if a person knows they're liable to react...

1/3 of the pen should do it. Do NOT take the whole damn thing. (reference to the movie "Crank"):D

[Acala]

Why get either? Though, the scorpion bite was $40,000 to fix. Lyme is $100. You are confusing me.

A scorpion sting cost nothing to fix (unless you are an infant or a frail person already near death). You just hang with the pain for awhile and move on. And there is no doubt you got stung. Those infected with Lyme disease often don't know they have been infected until massive damage has been done and much money has been spent trying to find out what is wrong with them. And even then it can be hard to eradicate. Even rattlenakes don't WANT to bite you. They try and warn you off given a chance. Ticks seek you out. New Hampshire is essentially a seething cauldron of crawling death waiting to kill the unwary with insidious diseases. :)

[Keith and stuff]

A scorpion sting cost nothing to fix (unless you are an infant or a frail person already near death). You just hang with the pain for awhile and move on. And there is no doubt you got stung. Those infected with Lyme disease often don't know they have been infected until massive damage has been done and much money has been spent trying to find out what is wrong with them. And even then it can be hard to eradicate. Even rattlenakes don't WANT to bite you. They try and warn you off given a chance. Ticks seek you out. New Hampshire is essentially a seething cauldron of crawling death waiting to kill the unwary with insidious diseases. :)

Some ticks carry diseases everywhere. If you get bit by a tick and are scared, antibiotics are $35. But you are funny. :toady: Regardless, it is shameful what some of these doctors and hospitals are doing. The snake bite insurance idea sounds interesting to me. Though, I don't even have health insurance and live where this doesn't happen so I think I would pass ;)

[jbauer]

Wonder what bit her?

I've been bit by a copperhead before, benadryl and a day and I was fine...

Every body reacts differently to venom though...

Depends on how old the copperhead is. I've been told (haven't been bitten yet, but got really close once) is that the young little ones don't know how to control their venom, essentially when they bite they give it all they got. Could be a wives tale for all I know.

[jbauer]

New Hampshire is essentially a seething cauldron of crawling death waiting to kill the unwary with insidious diseases. :)

See if you want true liberty and no ticks you need to move to Antarctica. Zero chance of ticks, no government there to tell you what to do. One of the most pristine places of liberty on Earth.

[Keith and stuff]

See if you want true liberty and no ticks you need to move to Antarctica. Zero chance of ticks, no government there to tell you what to do. One of the most pristine places of liberty on Earth.

True story bro. Unfortunately, the people that live there have government permission and usually live in government housing. A friend was able to go a few times as a government firefighter for government researchers. Plus, to get there you need to go to New Zealand or Australia, which means you risk getting eaten by a GIANT Croc!!! OH MY GOD! How much do hospitals charge after croc bites?
http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article141201.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/crocodile-jumps-out-of-the-water-pic-rex-feature-577418495.jpg

Maybe Seasteading makes more sense ;) Or just on a boat.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRUczpDcVQM

[tod evans]

Ticks seek you out. New Hampshire is essentially a seething cauldron of crawling death waiting to kill the unwary with insidious diseases. :)

Give me ticks-n-chiggers over concrete-n-people any day!