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Talk about a bad case of indigestion.
One Rhode Island hospital has spent more than $2 million in the past eight years removing foreign objects -- including knives, batteries and bedsprings -- from the bodies of patients who swallowed them on purpose.
That’s according to Dr. Steven F. Moss, a gastroenterologist who counted 305 cases of intentional consumption of odd objects at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence between 2001 and 2009. Moss decided to study the issue after noticing a peculiar trend.
“We have patients swallowing things almost every week or two,” said Moss, whose findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Clinical Gasroenterology and Hepatology. “We’re a pretty busy clinical service and the last thing we need is to spend a lot of time taking these things out.”
It’s not clear why so many patients showed up after swallowing objects that included teaspoons, toothbrushes and razor blades, Moss said. He doesn’t think there’s anything strange about the local region that would contribute to it, and, besides, a hospital in Los Angeles reported similar findings in 2008.
What is clear is that nearly 80 percent of the 33 people in the study who consumed foreign objects suffered from psychiatric disorders. Most were either prisoners or patients in a local psychiatric hospital. And even many of those who came from home settings were suffering from severe mental illness, Moss said. One mentally ill patient was responsible for 67 separate swallowing incidents.
Most of the patients were aware enough to know what they were doing and some were manipulative, Moss said. For prisoners, a trip to the hospital can be a chance to escape. Mentally ill patients sometimes swallow objects to ensure a change of scenery.
The tough part, Moss said, is getting the objects out. He and other doctors had to use complicated endoscopy tools, including snares, nets and rat-toothed forceps to do the job. Fortunately, only two cases required surgery and there were no deaths or serious injuries.
Still, the problem continues to confound Moss and others.
“We haven’t really come up with a good way to prevent people from doing it,” he said.
Many of the patients seem to be compelled to swallow things and will often awaken from anesthesia only to try to ingest nearby medical supplies. One patient managed to swallow something even while being watched by two guards in an acute care hospital.
The obvious answer of getting rid of objects too small to swallow doesn’t always work, Moss said. Eventually, you have to give a person a toothbrush. And many of the patients become psychologically stable enough to be discharged.
“Once he’s out,” Moss said, “he’ll do whatever he wants."
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Let it come out natural, I bet a lot of it would stop.
Whoa, that's harsh!
I find this article a little hard to swallow. no really I like news I can sink my teeth into. But do you expect me to swallow this story hook line and sinker? The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Some one please pass me a bed spring.
I agree with Rex. One more way for natural selection to take its course...naturally.
I agree with the natural selection. But I am one that also believes some blood lines should have died out long ago.
So did Hitler.... funny how its all coming full circle ,the Eugenics.
I agree with Rex as well. Natural selection all the way!
I disagree. . probably will not stop. . .in order for them to swallow these things in the first place causes pain. . .so the end result will only add to their. .err. . . .weird tendancies.
you people have no compassion for the mentally ill. just because you never went through mental illness, you dont understand these things i pray for you.
You know in nature the ill and infirm do not survive and continue to contribute their poor genes to the population. Humans by seeking to make everything survivable only continue to weaken the whole of us. Eventually we will all be born needing glasses and with mental illness, but we will live to be one hundred so it wont matter. @Donna, some things are not fixable, and should not be.
okay. .all joking aside.. .natural selction. .lets see. . .
Do any of you people have a person in your family who is special needs?
Or someone who was severely injured in an accident and is disabled?
If you do then you will know how insensitive some of these comments are. . .
I know. .even though I responded earlier with a quip. . .I have special needs children and am "disabled" myself and would not wish harm on anyone. I have learned to have a dark sence of humor about my "failings" but I will fight like a lion for the rights of my children and if anyone should imply my children should not have the right to live because of special needs. .well the catostropic effects of an asteroid strike would pale compared to what my responce to that would be.
Natural selection. .humph!
I am afraid that to do so would be considered medically negligent. Even though they did something very idiotic, the Doctor is required by law to render treatment that would best save the patient. Most of these would not pass without causing more risk than than intervention. As a Radiographer, I've seen a lot of this and it makes no sense. We have to protect them from themselves. Some don't stop until they kill themselves
The real problem is that they know that the doctors will save them anyway.
wats wrong that, maybe they should kill themselves before they kill or hurt someone......beside less tax dollars i like to know that my money is being used for something worth while....like healthcare for illegal aliens or lazt a#@ people cheating the system for welfare, or my favorite POLITICIANS POCKETS. thats' all much more important than idiots that swallow dangerous instruments on purpose right??
Ha!
And yet millions of guys can't get their wives or girlfriends...
LOL :)
to swallow,................
Maybe if it was sugar coated lol
or covered in chocolate...
Yum! I like chocolate :)
hmmm...and we wonder why our health insurance costs are going up, up, and up!
In the case of the mentally ill patients, its quite obvious that this would not have happened if they were receiving proper care to begin with.
An ounce of prevention...
I dont know, there really is only so much that one can be watched. With most mentally ill patients, alot of times, its a matter of 3- 30 seconds that one can do something harmful. My sister was in a Coma for a few months, from a car accident- she literally turned back into a 3 year old mentality while her recovery began- and she was doing things like choking herself, hanging off the side of the bed, removing tubes, and trying to swallow pens and other things-
there is SOOOO much prevention..if you have ever been in a situation, or custom to experience such an incident of being around someone so mentally unstable & ill..you can see, that there is only so much that can happen in the matter of seconds- no matter how much prevention.
Saying there is a clear cut cause or easy solution demonstrates a complete lack of experience in healthcare. We live in a system of seemingly (to the public) infinte resources medically, and hospitals are greedily holding them back. The reality is that we a have a very finite pool of resources, be it space, time, personel, or supplies. I would agree that people who do this should not be written off, but when a decision between this and someone who needs care more urgently arises, obligation falls with higher acuity not first come first serve.
perhaps you should ask the prescription medication companies and hospitals that double charge insurance and medicare
November 1, 2010
I have another theory. Attention seeking syndrome. That means, people who would do anything (including swallowing foreign objects) in order to get attention. Yes, of course; this is called negative attention. But, fact of the matter is, for someone who is mentally unstable, anything goes.
Regards,
Emily
Isn't this pica.. or? Is this something else?
Pica is a craving that is physiologically generated and is typically linked to mineral deficiency; this is something else. It does technically fall under the umbrella of eating non edibles; but has a different etiology.
It's called Munchausen Syndrome....or Munchausen Syndrome by proxy- if they involved another person (i.e. mother sickens her child).
Munchausen Syndrome is making someone else sick for attention. This is a breed of self mutilation not Munchausen Syndrome.
Munchausen Syndrome is when the person hurts themselves in order to obtain attention.
Munchausen- By-Proxy is when the person hurts someoneelse in order to obtain attention.
they're called insane, and should be locked in a padded cell, but the system fails us and lets them walk amongst us instead, claiming they're not a danger to anybody, even though they eat razor blades
Them eating razorblades has nothing to do with endangering YOU. Now if they were chasing you with them, THEN it endangers you. Just sayin.
they are not a danger. way to go with being extreme, i work with Dev Dis kids, one has Pica, he is pretty harmless, they deserve the right to be in less restricted environments just like anyone else. would you like to go back to the days when the would chain up people with mental illness- i suggest you read up on our mental health treatment history and then tell me that is what we should be doing with them. sick...
eja: The reason our health costs are going 'up, up and up' are not because the less than .001% of the population that has this mental condition. It is because far over half of our population is overweight, often obese, and suffering the consequences of being so- diabetes, heart disease, increased cancer risk, reduced mobility, depression, joint pain etc and they are all heavily medicated for these issues as well.Â
I work in medicine and I see it everyday. I assure you- THAT'S why, eja.Â
That'a not fair to say. Not ALL overweight individuals are heavily medicated. Don't rope everyone into one group. You cannot speak for everyone!!
Ellie... As someone who "works in medicine" I would think that you should have a little more insight...
Indeed, a vast population of our country suffers from obesity, In fact it's one of our country's primary health concerns. However, saying that the reason for the increased cost of health care is attributed solely to people being "overweight" as you said, is one-sided, and well, frankly, bigoted.
One who was educated and at least attempted to stay informed would know that a great many factors play a part in rising health care costs, only a small fraction having to do with overweight people being "heavily medicated" for conditions resulting from their own obesity.
It's doubtful that these fatties have single-handedly brought the American Economy to an increasing decline.
The issue at hand is these mentally ill patients self-injurious acts, and the question is "How do we prevent it?" Someone brought up a good point earlier, saying should these patients have been receiving quality care in the first place, these kinds of tragedies may have been avoided.
Perhaps instead of looking at our wallets complaining about the cost of health care, we should be considering the current EPIDEMIC of POOR health care in this country.
While I agree that obesity plays a part in the health care crisis, there are plenty of other points to consider that play a part as well. For you consideration:
1. growing population
2. unemployment- medicaid
3. required medicare at 65
4. irresponible people- in general
5. medicare and other payor reimbursements
6. confusing rules, regulations, and stipulations for reimbursement (see 5)
7. non-compliant patients (see 4)
8. life expectancy (people living longer because of the medical treatment they have for illnesses that would otherwise put them in the grave sooner)
9. inappropriate and/or ineffective health care reform
10. ignorance (not stupidity so much as mis-information) of people with regard to healthcare issues
11. mis-use of ER for health issues that are NON-emergent....and should be taken care of in the primary providers office or minute-clinic.
JI could go on....but I think I've made my point....Just Food for Thought.
comment on #11- my primary care sends me to the ER every time i call them for something other than an annual exam- very frustrating...and expensive even with my insurance.
Like someone else said research the medical condition 'Pica', as in the disorder of having the urge to eat non-food substances, and I think you might find some more answers than just being a plain attention seeker.
we should ban all sharp and small objects because that will get rid of this problem braghablaghablagha
Why should any of this matter now that health care is free? The doctor has to be doing something anyway. Might as well be doing this.....At least they are not getting more obese as one medical person was concerned about. I know, I read it on page 1,041 of the Health Care Bill!
Health Care is free?? where???
Dee Sands: "Why should any of this matter now that health care is free?"
FREE? To whom? Children maybe. Welfare recipients maybe.
If I want insurance, I have to pay $700+ a month COBRA or private health care now that I've been laid off.
FREE? hmmmmph!
And as for "Miss-better-than-thou-works-in-medicine": if you WANT to be in health care, learn to listen and learn and not make judgement. People in healthcare take an oath to treat patients and others with DIGNITY and CARING. If that's not your idea of a good day, and if you don't like your work, get the hell out of it and stop harassing the rest of the citizens of this country, overweight or not. The medical field is here to TREAT people, not point fingers and make fun of.
If a 300 pound man happens upon you while you're choking on your foot, (you know, foot in mouth disease)... you better hope he didn't hear your nasty comments about obese people.
Honestly, some people just deserve to die. Of course I understand if it was a child, but a grown ass person doing this should just live with there idiotic decision. That 2 million bucks could have went into AIDs and Cancer research instead it is wasted on dip@!$%#s.
yeah..i can agree with you on that one!!
That is harsh. I guess you have never had a family member that has had a metal illness. You are probably one of the people who thinks that mental illnesses are made up just to get attention. These things are real, yes, there are some people who do it for attention, but there are a lot of people who really have a problem. And to be this ignorant about something just blows my mind. That would be like me saying "why waste money on trying to cure aids or cancer, when that money could be put to better uses instead of Dip s*its... come on now, have some sense
Hate to break it to you but AIDS and a lot of times CANCER are also caused by the dangerous behaviors that the patients are or were engaged in. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying we should cut those patients off from care, I'm just saying, it isn't near as simple as you make it out to be. I've worked in a mental care facility, and some of the things that people do to themselves makes you want to scream at them sometimes, but after a while you start to see that they can't really help themselves. The human mind is a strange and infinately complex thing, and what we know about it at this point adds up to just about nothing when compared to what we DON'T know. Besides, 20 million is a drop in the bucket to any hospital over an 8 or 10 year period. I'm really surprised that number wasn't a lot higher.
i just bet you're a republican who goes to church every sunday and says he lives by the word of Christ. What a laugh! If you are a republican who goes to church and claims allegiance to Christ then you sir, should know that you sound like the devil rather than Christ.
Unfortunately John there are as many CINO's as RINO's.
I once was so hungry I wanted to swallow a whole cow... I don't think that is the same thing here. These people are nucking futs. I don't think, however, that we need to take care of these people. I am not a very good humanitarian here and think if they eat it, let them pass it, if they die... Don't be stupid. Even though these people may have medical conditions they did say they were well aware of what they were doing... SO they were aware that they were being stupid... If they want to eat it... Let them eat the whole package of it.
This is a mental disorder. Cast them away with the drug users who don't want to be clean. Horses can only be lead so close to water.
I just bet you go to church every sunday. mean republicans always talk about their allegiance to the bible but they're really hippocrates who violate the rules of the bible. Christ told us to care for and protect the ill, including the mentally ill, but then you are not a christian. by the way, it is the devil that tries to prompt us to denigrate the mentally ill so you are doing the devil's work.
I read as much as i can. And some ppl need to get a life. If you don't have a mental disease then you cannot judge these ppl or suggest that the doctors shouldn't do anything. Who are we to JUDGE anyone.
Aids... Yes it is caused by unprotected sex and sharing needles... But then you have those cases that are not... Cancer... there is all types too many to mention... I know of some ppl that have gotten lung cancer and never smoked a day in there life... And then some clowns on here have to make jokes about how there wives or girlfriends won't swallow... sad sad
John, I am not sure where to begin with you. How many more assumptions could you possibly throw into the pot? Any room for a kitchen sink?
I am all for institutionalizing folks who have this disease. I am all for a very small portion of taxes being set aside to take care of people like this, but they should NOT be allowed to roam the streets.
Tornado, did you really say that a perfectly sane, non-bed-spring eating person can't call a person who repeatedly eats razorblades that they are insane? Did you REALLY just say that?
Why not give them spoons and tooth brushes made out of something biodegradable that the stomach can digest? I would have to be far less expensive to develop this type of product. Im no doctor but hey a ID10T could figure this out.
Good idea - but not fully practical in the real world. We see these patients at my facility, too, and usually they come in through the ER (from a nursing home, jail, institution or their own home) after a swallowing incident, they are evaluated and treated, sometimes kept in-patient for a few weeks to get stable on their medications, then they MUST be released back to their home - whatever level of supervision that entails. At best, they might be in a mental-health assisted living situation, or have daily social worker contact, but that is $$$$$. Most of these people live alone (or on the streets) and just like a drug addict or alcoholic or schizophrenic they stop treatment (their meds) and re-engage in self-destructive behaviors.
It would work if a person was permanently located in a jail or mental health facilty (with restricted freedoms) but who would pay for that? Many of these people have jobs and families and just occaisionally do this one (very) odd thing when they are under stress.
Yeah emmett87, that's the answer to solving the problem of the mentally ill. Just let them die. Oh boy, two words people; hell and handbasket.
Munchausen Syndrome is when a person intentionally inflicts injury or illness upon himself. Munchausen by Proxy is when another person inflicts injury or illness on another (say, a mother on a child) to gain attention for herself. These are very real disorders. Some prisoners will swallow objects to gain a trip to the ER for possible escape purposes, but the majority of cases are an illness. I just want to know - how in the hell does one swallow a toothbrush or a spoon?
it is a medical condition known as PICA and is suspected to be tied to the OCD-spectrum... I wonder why the underlying medical issue was not included as part of the story??
Im not sure but what else could they need. a spoon to eat with and a toothbrush to brush with. other than that all they need is a padded room and a blanket. If they eat the blanket give em some hay.
I think in both cases but mainly prisoners they would be swallowing the objects hoping to pass them in there cells to use as weapons. just my thought.
The worst case I have seen while working in a Psych hospital was a woman who swallowed D-cell batteries, straight pins, forks, jigsaw blades.... and had over 100 endoscopic surgeries to remove the foreign objects. Pica is a condition that has to do with eating substances that are not nutritious....dirt, laundry soap, etc., but not metals that I am aware of.
This is where my taxes go? Just put them in a padded room and feed them applesauce for the rest of their lives. Honestly, all of these people are in prison or mentally unfit to be in public anyway; it's doing society and the economy a favor. No one is going to care when they're gone anyway, why do you think they're locked up? Thumbs up for logic and not swallowing railroad spikes.
you are another mean cruel republican complaining about the mentally ill as though being mentally ill is something to insult a person about. It is very un-Christlike to be mean to people with medical conditions, including people with mental health problems. Republicans act like they care about Christ and the bible but republicans are very un-Christian like in their attitudes and their behavior. As more and more comes out about Mary Magdelin it becomes more and more clear that she had mental problems and not only did Christ NOT denegrate her but he also cared for her and he went so far as to make her his right-hand (wo)man so to speak. Republicans want the rest of us to hate mentally ill people because republicans don't want to spend money on caring for the mentally ill so republicans figure that if they denegrate the mentally ill then the rest of us will get acclimated to that and we will get comfortable with it and we will allow it. But Christ would not approve of the way republicans are prompting us to treat people who have mental health problems.
Stop denigrating Republicans, Ackerby. As a mildly mentally-ill Republican, I believe in spending money to assist the mentally ill. The problem is, when government does it, they make a complete mess out of it. It's "Faith, Hope, Charity", not "Faith, Hope, Government Dole."
This is not a new problem. One of the most popular sites at the Glore Psychiatric Museum http://www.stjosephmuseum.org/pdf/glore_brochure.pdf is the stomach contents of a patient that constantly swallowed metal items. (pica) She died in surgery to remove the items, there were over 1,446 items in the stomach and intestines! That was back in 1929...
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2142
Having worked in an ER for several years I have seen all sorts of things. Including the patients who swallow foreign objects. Like the article stated, most of the patients did it on purpose and had underlying mental issues. We had one such patient that would swallow glass, paper clips, fish hooks, fishing line, anything and pretty much everything he could get his hands on. When asked why, he stated "he was bored and wanted attention". After having numerous surgeries to remove the objects he would get released only to show up days later in our ER for swallowing something else. It's sad really but also trying to have to save these people when they won't save themselves by getting help.