Posted on 07/30/2015 9:26:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A metro woman was shocked when she received a $200,000 hospital bill after being bitten by a snake.
Diane Nelson says she was wearing rubber gloves and working in her yard when she came across a Copperhead with a short temper.
Diane had been pulling grass from around her bushes when she felt a sting.
“When I pulled my glove off, I had two marks on my finger,” she said.
It was a bite from a Copperhead snake.
Within hours, Nelson’s entire arm was swollen and she was rushed to the ICU in need of anti-venom.
“I was in ICU for about two days, 48 hours,” Nelson said.
Two days and 18 vials of anti-venom later, Nelson was able to go home. She later received her bill, which was nearly $200,000 just for the anti-venom.
“The anti-venom is actually an anti-body that is specific for the type of snakes we have here in Oklahoma,” said Scott Schaeffer, with the Oklahoma Center For Poison and Drug Information.“It’s a very expensive anti-venom to make.”
Schaffer says the anti-venom is expensive for several reasons.
“The snakes have to be milked and several types are milked to create a pool of venom,” he said.
It then goes through an extensive process to create the drug, which is all done in Australia.
It is then shipped to hospitals here.
Another reason is there is a low demand for the drug and most hospitals do not keep much of it on hand.
“The shelf life compared to other drugs is relatively short. So if it doesn’t get used, it has to be discarded,” Schaeffer said.
“I was shocked. I knew it would be expensive but not that expensive,” Nelson said.
Fortunately, Nelson found out her insurance will cover the cost.
“It saved my life so I can’t complain,” she said.
If you are bitten by a snake, there are things you should not do.
Experts say you should never try to suck the venom out. In fact, Schaeffer says that could actually make it worse.
Also, don’t use ice on the bite and don’t use a tourniquet to keep the venom from spreading.
Instead, go immediately to the hospital.
Officials say while July has been a busy month for snake bites, they’re actually seeing a pretty average number for the year.
Bull, No one stays in an ER for for 7 days. Maybe he was moved to an ICU but I guarantee you he was not in and ER for more than 12 hours. And no ones goes into an ER for daily treatment. They have outpatient clinics for that.
All well and good if it can be done but if you're in the woods and it's going to be a long while I'm going to keep the bite lower than the heart, use a constriction band and use ice or cold water.
That's just me.
I know people that have been bitten by both and it's no picnic.
Probably a good idea to carry a bottle of snakebite medicine, preferably made in Kentucky. “
When I was in the service one of my fellow medics told me when he was in the field he had a company cook who reversed the process and took the snakebite medicine first then played “tag” with a copperhead to show how fast he was. The copperhead won. The cook was treated just as you described less the medicine then when he pulled through he got article 32’ed
“And no ones goes into an ER for daily treatment. “
You should see the ER’s in some SF Bay area hospitals. Looks like Tijuana North.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
A few years ago, my artificial knee became infected. I went to the local ER once every day for IV antibiotics.
My granddaughter is 9. Soon after she was born my daughter had a breast infection. Oral antibiotics were not effective. I drove her ( I think it was twice a day) to our local ER for IV antibiotics.
I have resolved to **never** respond to your posts. From this point forward I will not be responding to the content of any of your post to me.
BULL!
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