Bizarre medical stories ripped from the virtual pages of the Internet

A 30-year-old California woman died after a naturopath gave her an intravenous infusion of turmeric—yes, turmeric, a spice used in curry, supposedly has anti-inflammatory properties when taken by mouth.

An naturopath who only uses turmeric orally was quoted in a San Diego ABC news report, "There are some doctors who use turmeric extract in IV form to try and heighten the physiological effects, so the anti-inflammatory effects of the turmeric. It hasn’t been well studied. It’s more theoretical, so it’s more investigational.” Unlike most naturopathic treatments, IV turmeric hasn't been well studied.

According to NBC San Diego, the medical examiner said she died of a heart attack and ruled the death an accident. In fact, the story was headlined "Tumeric Solution Through IV To Blame, in Part, For Women's Death: ME." In part?

The naturopath has yet to be named in any news story. How is this not manslaughter or criminal negligence? If an MD had given say, oregano intravenously, would it still have been an accident? Would the doctor's name still be unknown? I think it would be on Yahoo's front page.

The Apocalypse Is Near: Part IV

A report from Egypt says that a medical center there is treating various maladies by having patients drink camel urine. It apparently is good for “the treatment of skin diseases such as ringworm, tinea and abscesses, sores that may appear on the body and hair, dry and wet ulcers, swelling of the liver, toothache, and for washing eyes.” Ah … no, thanks.

In Britain, 26% of the population has received a diagnosis of depression at some point in their lives. That is depressing. However, it doesn’t mean that they were all clinically depressed. I don’t know what goes on over there, but here in the US, it seems all you have to do is tell a doctor you feel depressed and you will likely receive a prescription for an anti-depressant.

How’s this for chutzpah? Francesco Schettino, the former captain of the ill-fated liner Costa Concordia, has sued the company that owned the ship for wrongful termination after he was fired. You may recall that he is facing charges of manslaughter and abandoning the ship. [LINK]

Here are five stories that make me pessimistic about the future of our country.

1. A boy removed the brakes from his bicycle, promptly ran through a stop sign and crashed into a car. [LINK]

2. An adult couple who were babysitting tied a 2-year-old girl to a coffee table because she wouldn’t stay away from the refrigerator. Yes, that’s bad, but it gets worse. They “began to wonder if it was a bad idea to tie up the girl, and discussed the situation with an upstairs neighbor” who then called the police. [LINK]

3. Two law students were arrested for killing a rare exotic bird at a hotel in Las Vegas. They were tossing it around and then decapitated it. Did I mention they were law students? The article describing this heinous crime says they attended “Berkeley University in northern California.” I think the reporter meant to say University of California, Berkeley, but how would he have any way to know this since Berkeley is at least 500 miles from Las Vegas? [LINK]

4. Another northern California story details a new diversion created by boys at a high school. They started a “fantasy slut league” in which “Male students earn points for documented engagement in sexual activities with female students." This is so bizarre that even I can’t think of anything to say about it. [LINK]

5. The University of North Carolina has banned the use of the word “freshman” to denote a student in the first year of college because the term is “non-gender inclusive.” From now on, they are to be called “first year students.” The story is amusing as it points out the problems with the words sophomore, junior and senior. [LINK]

The Apocalypse Is Near: Part III

The way I see it, we are getting closer to the end of civilization.

The Washington Post reports that SAT reading scores have dropped to their lowest level in 40 years. For 57% [that’s more than half] of those taking the test, the results suggest that success in college is unlikely.

A woman in Alaska fell off a 60-foot cliff while texting. She survived.

In a related story, a 14-year-old Connecticut boy removed the brakes from his bicycle. He then got on it, ran a stop sign and crashed into a car. Surprisingly, he was not wearing a helmet.

A woman in Dallas suffers from “chemical and electrical sensitivity.” In order to read a book she must place it in a plastic bag which “blocks out the volatile organic compounds from the ink.” She also can feel the radio frequency emissions from a digital meter installed outside of her house by the electric company and “is convinced the emissions of countless objects are damaging her body...and her mind.” She is applying for disability and will likely succeed in obtaining it.

A paper published in the Journal of Virology by Korean researchers found that air contains between 1.6 million and 40 million viruses per cubic meter. If that’s not bad enough, a cubic meter of air also harbors between 860,000 and 11 million bacteria.

The good news is that a Florida man won a live roach-eating contest. The bad news is that he died at the scene. The prize for winning was to have been a python. The fate of the python is unknown.

According to a story, most joint US-Afghan operations have been suspended as NATO and US officers have just realized what the Soviets learned years ago. It seems the country of Afghanistan is not easy to manage. After yet another insider attack killed 4 of our soldiers last month, a senior military official said, “We’re to the point now where we can’t trust these people.” What took us so long to figure this out?

The head coach of a champion youth football team in California was suspended amid allegations that he offered his 11-year-old players bounties of up to $50 for the best hit of the game. The most money was to be paid for a hit that forced an opposing player to leave a game. He also is accused of altering uniforms to enable players to make weight limits. The bounties were established before news of a similar situation involving the New Orleans Saints of the NFL came to light.

A student at the University of Tennessee was hospitalized after allegedly getting drunk via an alcohol enema. The story states his blood alcohol level was 0.448 (6 times the legal limit) and he had rectal injuries. The student, who is planning to sue the school and the hospital for among other things, violating his HIPAA rights, denies that the enema occurred. In a press conference, he said that he and his fraternity brothers were only playing a game called “Tour de Franzia.” The game involves teams drinking bags of Franzia wine, vintage not stated, as fast as possible. The press conference, which features the student, his lawyer and to the lawyer’s right a lad who appears to be “Flounder” from the movie “Animal House,” can be seen here.

Signs that the apocalypse is near. Part 2

I reviewed a few signs of the impending apocalypse in a previous blog. It looks like it will take many blogs to cover all the signs that keep appearing. Here we go.

Tech company Citrix released the results of a national survey which showed that 51% of Americans think that the weather can affect cloud computing.

A Swissair flight from Zurich to Beijing had to turn back when two passengers began to fight over a reclining seat. The men fought in the aisle, rolled around and cursed at each other. Why can’t we all just get along?

If you’re a man, it’s OK to walk around naked in San Francisco. However, what you cannot do is wear a ring (ahem) … down there, but only if someone complains about it. I haven’t been to San Francisco in quite a while and the photo (SFW) accompanying the article does not make me miss being there at all.

The Chief Diversity Officer at the State Department has issued an advisory which says that the use of phrases like “hold down the fort," “going Dutch” and “rule of thumb” are racially or culturally insensitive and should not be used.

In cooperation with the Discovery Channel, Harvard University, which made my first list because of its cheating scandal, is presenting a “media training boot camp for doctors.” The advertisement says, “This amazing 3-day event is only $1997 to attend.” I’ll pass.

A cheating scandal has rocked the world of competitive Scrabble. A contestant was caught with extra blank tiles. I’m not sure how he planned to use them since the game has only two and it would have been pretty obvious is he played a third one. I suppose the next thing will be doping in chess.

Professional image consultants charge $300 per hour to coach young women on what to wear and how to speak during college sorority rush week. The business is called “Rushbiddies.” The ABC news story has a happy ending as the woman featured in the story was accepted into Alpha Phi, which was her first choice.

A 2011 test of US eighth and twelfth graders reveals that only about 27% had proficient writing skills even if they had access to spell check. The problem is those who didn’t do well had poor organizational and grammar skills. According to the story, “In 2007, 33 percent of eighth grade students scored at the proficient level, which represents solid writing skills, as did 24 percent at grade 12.” The most recent test was done on computers while the 2007 students used things called pencils and paper.

A dance school in British Columbia is offering pole dancing classes to grade school children. If that's not bad enough, note that parents have enrolled children at $70 for an hour session. “The kids just love it,” said [the] president of the Canadian Pole Fitness Association, which is said to be holding championships in what it association president says is becoming a “sport.”

Some signs of the impending apocalypse

Here are some examples of why I believe the apocalypse is near.

The eighth annual "Pregnant Bikini Contest" was recently held in Houston. Before you click the link, I must warn you that what has been seen cannot be unseen. Notice of the first seven contests somehow escaped my attention.

A dispute at a bar in Calgary, Canada erupted in violence resulting in the death of a man. The disagreement was about the pitching staff of baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays.

Harvard University is investigating 125 students who may have plagiarized their test answers for a course ironically entitled "Introduction to Congress." After looking at some examples of the course material, I wonder why it would be necessary to cheat. An article in Salon magazines states, "The student source said Professor Platt was a fun lecturer who presented with accessible slides. In just one lecture he used ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘The Simpsons’ and the singer Bobby Brown to explain the origins of modern Congressional careers and committees." The same article quotes a student as saying Harvard is “out for blood” for daring to look into the matter. At least the students will be well-prepared for futures as politicians.

Also in Boston, a federal judge ruled that the state of Massachusetts must pay for a sex change operation for a prisoner serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. The Wall Street Journal reports that this prisoner has been receiving female hormones since his diagnosis of gender identity disorder in 2003. The judge noted that the murderer may receive better care for his problem than many law-abiding Americans.

A judge in England has let a burglar off without jail time while praising him. According to the BBC, the judge said, "It takes a huge amount of courage, as far as I can see, for somebody to burgle somebody's house. I wouldn't have the nerve." Prime Minister David Cameron had a dim view of the judge’s remarks.

As a charity fundraiser, donors in Japan were offered the opportunity to squeeze the naked breasts of young women, described as "adult video actresses." For an unspecified amount of money, one was allowed two squeezes per hand.