Man Bitten By Rattlesnake After Trying To Take Selfie With It Gets Huge Hospital Bill

A man who got bitten by a rattlesnake while he attempted to get a selfie with it was later whacked with a $153,000 (£110,954) medical bill to cover the cost of his treatment.

Todd Fassler, from San Diego, was bitten by the snake back in 2015 after spotting it in a bush and thinking it might be a good idea to snap a quick selfie with it.

But in fact, it turned out to be a bloody awful idea when the snake bit his arm and released its potentially deadly venom.

Fassler had to take a trip to hospital where he was pumped with anti-venom drug CroFab - completely blasting through the entire anti-venom supplies of two hospitals.

ABC10

Speaking to CBS at the time, Dr. Keith Boesen, director of the Arizona Poison & Drug Information Center said: "The only effective treatment is antivenom.

"There's blood tests we can do to determine the effect of the venom. Hospital bills can always be worked out or negotiated, but you can't really negotiate, other than prosthetics, the loss of part of your hand or your arm."

He went on to say he knew of another snake bite victim who needed 74 vials of anti-venom.

To cap off an already awful experience, once his treatment was complete Fassler was given a medical bill totalling $153,161.25 (£111,071.77) - including a whopping $83,341.25 (£60,438.66) spent on 'pharmacy' services. Ouch.

It's not clear if the man had medical insurance to help cover the cost of the treatment, but let's hope for his sake that he did.

Venomous snake bites aren't particularly common in the US, but can be dangerous. The bite will start off as a couple of small puncture wounds, but slowly the area will swell up and the tissue will begin to die off.

The venom stops the person's blood from clotting, which can cause severe bruising and bleeding problems. If it's not dealt with quickly, the damage done can be permanent.

Dr Boesen explained: "You'll see it progress an inch an hour. It's almost at a visible pace where you're watching your arm swell. We'll give antivenom to make that swelling stop, so it will stop progressing.

"There is no drug that can reverse the damage, we can only prevent it from getting worse."

Thankfully, due to the availability of anti-venom drugs, death from snake bites is very rare in the US, but the recovery process can take months.

Topics: US News, Snakes, Animals

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19