I was about to post that a couple dollars worth of Vitamin C would be all that is needed. Snakebite. There are about 2,500 species of snakes throughout the world and about 10 percent are venomous. This minority causes about 30,000 to 40,000 deaths each year, mostly in Asia. In the United States, about 7,000 people are bitten annually, of which about 40 to 60 percent are children and young adults. The regions of highest incidence are the southern and western states and in the period from 1950 to 1959 there were 158 snakebite deaths in this country. The usual treatment consists of supportive measures and injection of antivenin. It is necessary to identify the snake involved in order to obtain the correct type of antivenin since they are highly specific. For instance, the antivenin for the pit vipers is not recommended for the coral snakes. Since time is of the essence in treating a snakebite, a general treatment based on a more widely available material than antivenin and one limited by the high specificity for certain snakes would be highly desirable. There have appeared suggestive reports on the use of ascorbic acid for treating snakebites which have never been properly explored. In 1938, Nitzesco et al. (11) showed that ascorbic acid when mixed with cobra venom rendered it harmless. Guinea pigs injected with the venom-ascorbic acid mixture, not only all survived, but did not even show any of the snakebite symptoms. They also emphasized the importance of high dosages. With 25 milligrams of ascorbic acid, all the animals survived; with 10 milligrams, the guinea pigs survived for a while, but eventually died; and with 5 milligrams there was no beneficial effect. A 1947 paper from a Bogota', Columbia, oil company hospital (13) describes the dramatic emergency treatment of three snakebite cases where the biting snakes were not identified. The victims were first given the local treatment of incision of the wound, suction and tourniquet plus the oral administration of orange or lemon juice. They injected 2 grams of ascorbic acid intravenously every 3 hours. The author, Dr. Perdomo, states that immediately after the first injection of ascorbic acid a very favorable response was noted and, after subsequent injections, there was a complete elimination of all symptoms. The patients were observed up to a week later and showed no general or local complications. A plea was made for more research. In a 1943 paper from India, kahn (13) reported that ascorbic acid was ineffective for preventing death in dogs injected with cobra venom. On examination of his experimental conditions, we find that he used only one injection of ascorbic acid to counteract the lethal dose of cobra venom. This dose amounted to only 70 to 140 milligrams of ascorbic acid per kilogram of body weight. Dey (11) required 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of ascorbic acid per kilogram of body weight to counteract the lethal effects of tetanus toxin. In his dogs Kahn used less than 1/3 to 2/3 of the ascorbic acid dosage employed by Perdomo in humans and between 1/7 and 1/3 of the dosage suggested by Dey. If is likely that, if Kahn's tests were repeated using higher levels of ascorbic acid, the results would be as successful as the others. Klenner, in 1953, alsi indicated the usefulness of ascorbic acid for snakebites. In a recent personal communication, he stated that he has not only successfully treated cases of snakebite in man megascorbically, but also in dogs, which totally contradicts Kahn's remarks. In 1957, he also revealed the usefulness of ascorbic acid in treating black widow spider bites. Similarly McCormick, in 1952, used ascorbic acid in the treatment of scorpion stings (13). Here we have the basis for a simple and apparently harmless and effective treatment for a wide variety of animal toxins which has been ignored, for many years. Further exploration of these known facts, using a procedures similar to the tests suggested previously for tetanus and botulism, may provide a new, effective, and immediate treatment for snakebites, black widow spider bites, scorpion stings, and serious multiple bee stings by the mere intravenous infusion of sodium ascorbate at megascorbic levels. The groundwork has been laid for further exploratory research. The above discussions are devoted to the bacterial and animal toxins, but ascorbic acid would probably be as effective against the plant toxin, such as mushroom poisons, as is indicated in the 1938 paper by Holland and Chlosta (14). Still their plea for further research remains unanswered to this very day. --The Healing Factor, Vitamin C Against Disease http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/stone/ Here are more resource on Vitamin C that everyone should read: http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/ http://www.doctoryourself.com/
Really dangerous twaddle. Until really proven to be the most effective treatment for what can very well be potentially fatal incident you would have to be utterly crazy not to seek treatment according to the best current medical practice. Anti venom is not without problems, but is known to be life saving. Get a full on bite from any of several species of Australian snakes and pop a few Vitamin C tabs and see what happens. Dead within a few days.
There is no question in my mind that it is proven to be the most effective treatment not only through the scientific literature but through my personal experiences with Vitamin C. I would not hesitate if I was bitten by a snake to treat myself by consuming Vitamin C to bowel tolerance levels. Also note that more than a few Vitamin C capsules are required. Klenner reports that "350 mg to 700 mg per Kg. body weight given intravenously". Slightly more would most likely be required orally as all of it won't be absorbed. For a 200lb person this would equate to 31 to 63 1 gram capsules. Can you provide any references to your claim that this treatment does not work and I would be dead within a few days? As to why it works: http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/197x/klenner-fr-j_appl_nutr-1971-v23-n3&4-p61.htm
Infrastructure is better amortized over larger numbers. Aside from your numbers being fairly off, one would think that larger numbers would offer the potential for greater efficiencies by better spreading overhead costs and risk.
At those rates it might incentivise doctors to release poisonous snakes into heavy footfall recreational areas within 'venom death ambulance travel time' of the hospital.Nice sideline for any herpetologists out there.
A real insurance company (not like what she seemed to have had) first would dramatically lower the overall charges to customary and prevailing. I had sinus surgery before that went from like $7500 down to under $2000. Then my share was about $200 The main purposes of insurance is not coverage, but that it slashes the doctor's charge to a much more reasonable charge before applying the 80-100% they cover. You cannot aford to be without some kind of medical insurance, even catastrophic.
Americans are slaves, slaves to enterprise, slaves to the rich, slaves to the insurance companies, slaves to the bankers, slaves to creditcard debt, student loan debt. while Europeans are only slaves to government with higher taxes. But wait,. I am forgetting Americans are also slaves to the government. "The United States is unlike other countries in that its citizens are subject to U.S. tax on their worldwide income no matter where in the world they reside. U.S. citizens therefore find it difficult to take advantage of personal tax havens. Although there are some offshore bank accounts that advertise as tax havens, U.S. law requires reporting of income from those accounts and failure to do so constitutes tax evasion." WOW. You know your government sucks when they do the same thing as north-korea. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
That is true but it cannot make the system that much more complicated. Just need a bigger version of a similar system
the money now goes to insurance companies in the US. They are on NYSE and make 4 billion a year in profit each. While healthcare in US ranks 36 in the world. LOL