There is a belief amongst some in the United States, that an electric shock on the bite kills the snakes venom after a bite ....
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| Rattle Lip |
.... this idea originated in 1984, from Dr. Ronald H. Guderian, a missionary doctor in Ecuador who believed that shocking a bite would neutralise the venom. It caught on in Ecuador, after some people claimed it had worked for them.
The idea was briefly discussed in medical circles, and published as a theory in medical journals around the time, such as the 26th of July 1986 issue of The Lancet in London, but was later shown by researchers to be totally incorrect .... but the idea has stuck in the minds of some, ever since it was reported in the New York Times on the 5th of August 1986.
So when in April 2023, a 28 year old man in Arizona was bitten by his pet rattlesnake for the 15th time, he decided that rather than have a course of anti-venom (to which he had an adverse reaction in the past), he would turn to the electric method. Aided by a neighbour, he connected a wire from his lips, where he presumably been bitten, to a car battery. The neighbour them revved the car engine up to 3,000rpm ..... Quelle Surprise, the man passed out immediately.
The neighbour immediately called paramedics, who arrived and found the man still "unconscious and incontinent of stool" (I'm not surprised!!), He was rushed to hospital where he was revived and treated for electric shock, rattle snake bite, and he had to have re-constructive plastic surgery for his damaged lips.
As he had been bitten so many times by his pet, its doubtful if he was insured for this treatment. So he also faced a large hospital bill .... even if he had chosen to just get the four to six vials of anti-venom it would have been around $14,000, but after this shocking experiment, he would have faced costs for Ambulance rides, Emergency room visits, and Days spent in intensive care plus nursing and the plastic surgery costs.
Examples of how expensive snakebite treatments can cost:
- A camper's snakebite bill was $142,938.
- A toddler's snakebite bill was over $297,000, which included ambulance rides, emergency room visits, and days in intensive care.
- A man in San Diego was bitten by a rattlesnake and received a $153,000 medical bill.
As we have seen in earlier posts, the US's health system can be extremely expensive (driven as it is by insurance premiums), and may or may not cover all costs connected with the treatment.
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