(Reuters) - A 63-year-old American man with a hernia plunged a butter knife into his abdomen to try to fix the problem, and later put a lit cigarette in the wound, according to police.
Police found the man lying naked on the porch of his apartment in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale in California Sunday night after his wife called to report his attempt at surgery, Glendale police spokesman Sergeant Tom Lorenz said.
"He actually impaled himself with the butter knife," Lorenz said. "He told his wife he was frustrated with this hernia, and he didn't want to wait any longer for the medical procedure."
Police officers watched as the man, after pulling the knife out of his abdomen, put a lit cigarette into the wound, Lorenz said.
"I don't know if it was an attempt to cauterize or anything," he said.
Police did not identify the man, but Lorenz said he committed no crime and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was put on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, police said.
The hospital was expected to perform the surgery to fix his hernia, Lorenz said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/us-butter-knife-idUSTRE76Q6RR20110727
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I thought this was kind of funny. I knew the US healthcare system was bad........ I just can't believe he tried especially with a butter knife....
Decided to add this post that I made later to explain myself better for everyone wondering why I am picking on the USA healthcare system.
While USA has decent healthcare for surgery, etc... it is more focused on treatment rather than prevention. USA doctors are pawns of the pharmaceutical industry (they are basically taught that their is a pill for everything when we shouldn't even be taking these pills due to side effects). Sure there are doctors in the USA that try to explain to the patient that diet, exercise, etc.. are very important in preventing diseases/possibly curing them (at least to the point where no prescription drugs are needed). However, most are willing to fill out a prescription for the patient and send them on their merry way without addressing the real problem (keep them coming back for more prescription when their main focus should be keeping the patient healthy and away). That is one of my main issues with the way we address health in the USA. While the main issue for his digestive issues were probably his diet, it has now come to the point of surgery to correct the problem. The problem could have been addressed earlier with less cost.
