Cost of Rattlesnake bite in US hospital

The United States of America , name one country that has done more for the world and still does than her.

Yet she is young and in the middle of an evolution unlike the "hippie revolution" this evolution or change will have it's collateral damage for sure but it's part of being able to maintain it's present status of the world's friend and peace keeper.

What i qouted is not to be taken too literally, and im sure you better than anyone understand what im saying, i dont believe in being "politically correct" for the sake of this international forum, when many people around the world reading this will need to get motivated and fast to survive the up coming austerity measures imposed on them by their perspective country's so get tough ! and dont wait for any hand outs or you too will get run over in real life terms.

Quote :

Yet she is young and in the middle of an evolution unlike the "hippie revolution" this evolution or change will have it's collateral damage for sure but it's part of being able to maintain it's present status of the world's friend and peace keeper.

LOL

So please, Mr. Montejo, reduce your so called "evolutionary collateral damage" to your country and do not spread it allover the world.

When I posted the link on Venomland concerning the cost of a snake bite accident, I did so as an advisory for the membership, the point being should an accident occur, there may be a financial penalty to go with any physical complications. I've no idea what the cost may be in hospitals across the US or in other countries, and I don't know whether or not health insurance would cover the costs related to medical care following a snake bite accident if it occurred in an area where possession of venomous reptiles is illegal.

Albert J. Montejo wrote:

The United States of America , name one country that has done more for the world and still does than her.

Yet she is young and in the middle of an evolution unlike the "hippie revolution" this evolution or change will have it's collateral damage for sure but it's part of being able to maintain it's present status of the world's friend and peace keeper.

What i qouted is not to be taken too literally, and im sure you better than anyone understand what im saying, i dont believe in being "politically correct" for the sake of this international forum, when many people around the world reading this will need to get motivated and fast to survive the up coming austerity measures imposed on them by their perspective country's so get tough ! and dont wait for any hand outs or you too will get run over in real life terms.

Germany for one.

i have a lot of respect for Germany after all it was Dr.Ferry Porsche who designed the prototype of my 911 , and The Autobahn is a work of art .

German, Austrian and Swiss manufacturing methods for many everyday and luxury items are the envy of the world. The U.S. is also good at producing space/aircraft products but that is thanks to Wernher Von Braun I believe.

Well I do see the lessom in this cost that he got it showed a bite could break the bank so to speak. Im kind of impressed that such a little C.helleri put him in the hospital so easily it make's me respect them that much more.

Albert J. Montejo wrote:

Look dont try to understand The United States of America unless you were born here, this is not a country for slackers or feeble minded nor feeble bodied indiviuals, if you are (feeble) you will get run over, and the places that you can hide are getting fewer and fewer . So stay fit and keep up.

Cutting out private insurance companies will put even more people out of work and create even more people looking for handouts and a free ride.

Further more as the previous poster already stated the money has to come from somewhere.

The United States of America is the most modern country in the world and evolving at a mesmerizing rate of evolution dont be fooled by what you read, see or hear in the news .

I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or if you actually believe what you're sying... I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic. I live in a society with universal healthcare that leaves no one behind. This is a basic necessity like education and emergency services etc. Would you want your police, military, fire department and schools farmed out to private corporations who cut costs and try to deny services in the name of profit? You can apply that same logic to healthcare.

Public health care alleviates worry and allows the most disadvantaged members of society to carry on with their lives, working and paying taxes without worrying about paying for their health issues. The statistics show that universal health care works not only for improving the health of a population but also in reducing other social problems like crime.

I had some major health issues a few years ago and I received excellent care very quickly. Public health care works, plain and simple. It ends up being MORE financially efficient than private systems (look at statistics between the US and most EU countries), it improves the standard of living for any society and shows the kind of compassion and humanity that I would expect from a free and just society. Its not about people getting a 'free ride', it only ensures that everyone is treated as a human being regardless og how much they make.

Please , please, im with the Austrian Oaks, school of thought and following Arnold Schwarzenegger's advice ive never gone wrong, been to the doctor maybe three times in my life all emergencies, i recovered in record time.

Theyre two types of pain , the pain of discipline and then the pain of regret....regret hurt's more.

Let me just say the USA can't afford universal healthcare actually now its just universal tax instead of healthcare. I do support healthcare reform but not government run reform as government have proven pretty bad with anything involving money. Frankly it scares me that someone I don't know is controling my healthcare and a beaurocrate looking out for whats best for me is scary. I want people to choose their own healthcare not forced to get healthcare of a certain type by government.

Thank you Luke for your vision and Joel Power on your reasonable comment,
i recieved some pm's , that what does Arnold have to do with health care cost.
Exactly my point, nothing, healthy fit people do not add to the economy in the United States .

Overweight through self indulgence, persons that thought health was an entititlement and with a decent insurance do , illness keeps medical doctors , hospitals, universitys, medical equipment, and a host of other such services in business, just as crime does, keeps attorneys , judges, detention centers , bailbondsman etc. in business. We are a business run economy it is up to the indiviual to use good judgement but unfortunately many fall under one of these categories below, and become a burden to the working middle class taxpayer.

1) Idiot mentally 3 years old and under , challenge, self preservation.
2) low-grade imbecile mentally 4-5 years old , challenge, simple menial work
3) Medium imbecile mentally, 6-8 years old , challenge, simple manual work
4) High grade imbecile ,mentally 8-10 years old, challenge, complex manual work
5) Moron, mentally 10-12 years old challenge, work requiring reason and judgement.

Albert J. Montejo wrote:

The United States of America , name one country that has done more for the world and still does than her.

Remember that the Americas was inhabited before 1492, and almost an entire continent was slaughtered to create what now is the "Glorious" USA. Guess the slacker-indians didnt stay fit enough and deserved their fate....

Albert J. Montejo wrote:

Thank you Luke for your vision and Joel Power on your reasonable comment,
i recieved some pm's , that what does Arnold have to do with health care cost.
Exactly my point, nothing, healthy fit people do not add to the economy in the United States .

Overweight through self indulgence, persons that thought health was an entititlement and with a decent insurance do , illness keeps medical doctors , hospitals, universitys, medical equipment, and a host of other such services in business, just as crime does, keeps attorneys , judges, detention centers , bailbondsman etc. in business. We are a business run economy it is up to the indiviual to use good judgement but unfortunately many fall under one of these categories below, and become a burden to the working middle class taxpayer.

1) Idiot mentally 3 years old and under , challenge, self preservation.
2) low-grade imbecile mentally 4-5 years old , challenge, simple menial work
3) Medium imbecile mentally, 6-8 years old , challenge, simple manual work
4) High grade imbecile ,mentally 8-10 years old, challenge, complex manual work
5) Moron, mentally 10-12 years old challenge, work requiring reason and judgement.

While I agree (from an outsider's point of view) that 'The Governator' was the best governor in recent memory, and derived some very good environmental policies, I have to disagree with your ideas that it is only overweight self-indulgent people who take up much of the health system, and that a health system should be run like a business.

While obesity is the plague of the 21st century USA (and Canada to a lesser extent), I have always been fit, active and healthy. I watch my diet and exercise regularly. I have been a paratrooper for almost 10 years... and yet I suffered some near-fatal heart complications. What category do I fall under... obese, low-grade imbecile?

The unfortunate reality is that the poorest people in society (trying to feed a family on minimum wage) can't afford healthy, un-porcessed foods, gym memberships and health insurance. Add to that the unfortunate circumstance of being born with a health problem and insurance rates go up even higher... if you can get insurance at all.

If I am bitten by one of my snakes, will I have to pay the health costs? No. Is that fair? I don't know. What I do know is that there are lots of dangerous activities other than keeping of venomous snakes and my taxes go towards paying for the people who indulge in those activities to get patched up, so if I am ever bitten their taxes can do me a bit of good. I don't mind some of my paycheck going towards a health system like ours.

I'd rather see my paycheck helping to cure some child of cancer than making some shareholder rich.

Just my 2 cents.

Really to me this cost this guy had been delt is a reason to avoid getting bitten all togethor.

Luke, is it not your job, to remove the "unfit "( sensugrato ) from this earth for the betterment of mankind, part of your responsibilty and duties as a paratrooper ?.

Or do you just fly in and watch TV with their daughters ?.

Obs , "collateral damage" ( sensulibra).

We had those ideas about "removing the unfit from this earth for the betterment of mankind" in the past, and i don't want to read that here on VenomLand.
If that continues here, i won't mind to remove Mr. Montejo for the "betterment" of our board....
No further discussion needed - feel free to discuss costs of snakebite treatments, but no more off topics of this kind!

Ohh another American talking about how the USA are the best and the world can't survive withouth them... so what's new? 140 000 $ for a bite?! Maybe they have used over 100 viles of CroFab


Btw I really like this comment.

Jimmy Lundqvist wrote:

Albert J. Montejo wrote:

The United States of America , name one country that has done more for the world and still does than her.

Remember that the Americas was inhabited before 1492, and almost an entire continent was slaughtered to create what now is the "Glorious" USA. Guess the slacker-indians didnt stay fit enough and deserved their fate....

Sorry Peter for the off topic but I couldn't help myself. I am sick of Americans that think they are the best.

Without drawing myself too much into the political debate, I will remark that most hospitals in these United States of America do operate with a profit incentive as per the dictates of capitalism, the most efficient and utilitarian economic system yet devised by Man.

If you don't wish to pay six figures for treatment, then one is welcome to manufacture one's own anti-venin and lactated ringers' solution and purchase the requisite Alaris/Medtronic/Gemstar intravenous solution pump and syringes and needles and sterile water for injection and intubation device and oxygen and artificial respirating systems and to do it all oneself. Nothing aside from legislation stands in the way, so why not? Perhaps a bit unseemly to purchase and gather all these items in the unlikely event of an unfortunate event? That's why hospitals exist - to provide specialized services which the lay public is not willing or capable of doing on its own. If we all could all diagnose our own cancers, determine our own radiative therapy and/or chemotherapy and administer it each to ourselves, there would be little need for anything given how advanced we might then be as individuals.

In a free market, price is what the market will bear. However, unfortunately, with the ridiculous number of secondary and tertiary payors, it is not as straightforward as all that, particularly with rarefied or uncommon treatments. There are often, however, patient assistance programs offered by manufacturers of prescription drugs, and sometimes by hospitals themselves. They would much rather work and negotiate with the patient to than to write off the entire sum as bad debt and be that much further into debt.

As to cost, I can attest that aside from markup, there is, on average, a built-in charge of ~$70-75 USD per average intravenous/intra-arterial product that is non-negotiable due to the time of everyone involved. A doctor must analyze and diagnose the problem, sometimes with an additional consult if difficult to determine or differentiate diagnosis. Laboratory technician must analyze hemostability or other lab values for the relevant serum(s). Pharmacy technician must prepare the dose. Pharmacist must check that the dose is prepared correctly and is appropriate therapy for the given diagnosis. Nurse must administer dose correctly via the correct route and correct rate. It is not as simple as 'HOW RIDICULOUS THE PRICING!!'. Of course there is a margin. As for CroFab, wholesale acquisition cost from HDSmith is right around $1100USD (approximately) per vial as of end of August 2012.

As to socialized healthcare systems, the role of socialized 'universal' healthcare systems and their effect on the populations they serve was my undergraduate thesis: they are no panacea; they simply mandate higher tax rate and, generally, less in-depth care. I have travelled to and spent some months in Canada, and would not wish to become ill there, as the wait times for simple diagnostic or exploratory procedures which are readily and rapidly accomplished here must first have governmental approval up north. You think prior authorizations are bad from private insurance companies? Try dealing with the bureaucracy of Government - and any generally Government will suffice to demonstrate the point.

America has its flaws - many of them and more by the day - but as an American who loves his nation and loathes his Government, I wouldn't wish to live anywhere else, detractors and legitimate criticisms withstanding.

know a guy that was charged over 220k for ag piscivorous.

I have been charged zero (except my usual monthly rates for social insurance) for a Vipera a. aspis (3 days in hospital) and a Crotalus polystictus bite (3 weeks in hosptal) in Europe (Switzerland).

Miami Florida should be it's own country. 95% of the population there is illegal immigrants. The other 4% are Yankee yupees or from North of the border, and they are ocking to south Florida seasonally like migratory ducks. Please don't take anything Mr. Montejo says as a representation of Americans. His remarks are laughable and downright embarassing. Our healthcare system is a mess and the problem is that the corporations and politicians are in bed together and at the same time banging each others wives behind the others back. I don't trust either, but at the same time love my country. The good outwieghs the bad...Just don't get BIT!

Mr Gwaltney, I find some of your comments quite rude and feel those sorts of opinions are un-necessary here. I am from the "north", and is it not true that a good majority of Floridas economy is based on tourism? But none the less this is all off topic. The original topic being about the cost of the snake bite. The health care system in the U.S. is one reason why I do not intend on returning to my home country. A good portion of my life I did not have health care, why you ask? Because my work did not pay to it, and I could not afford it. Lucky for me nothing happened to me during that time.

I then joined the military, where we essentially have universal heath care. Yes its really an insurance company, tricare, but I can walk into the doctor and wait for an appointment and get seen for anything although if your have something more serious, it can take a long time to get the proper tests required, they are mor likely to hand you tylenol and tell you to take it easy for a day or two then do any real tests. I do have a feeling that has a lot more to do with the mentality of the military than anything.

I am still in the military, but I live in Germany, I will be getting out in less than a year and staying here in Germany. I still dont quite understand the health care system here completely but so far it seems better than the u.s. Anyone in Germany please feel free to correct me if I am wrong here. If you are employed, you have to have health insurance, if not, the Government pays it. My wife when she was younger spent weeks in the hospital, and paid only 10 euros a day, quite the minor costs considering everything they did. I would like if someone in Germany could comment about the costs of a snake bite on the German health care system. I would find it interesting and it could be useful information for me in the future.

Andrew Fairbairn