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Urutu Snake Bite
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by urutur on February 2, 2005
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On Labor Day last year, our daughter was bitten by a Urutu snake that she was feeding.
She lived only a half mile from the hospital and drove herself to the hospital emergency room where they started to treat her and then sent her to another hospital because they could not treat her there.
She called her freind in Florida who is in the reptile business and asked him to talk with the hospital about how to treat this snake bite.
He talked with the Doctor and he told him they really didn't need his help and knew what they were doing.
To make a long story short they only gave her 8 vials of Cro-Fab. She died that Saturday.
The Director of the Newport Aquarium said in a newspaper article that the hospital should have called Miami-Dade right away for the right antivenom which they didn't do.
Our daughter didn't have a chance to live based on what they didn't do to treat her. Now the hospital called me to get our permission to write a paper about her. We didn't give them permission as I told them I wanted to get more information on why she died and how we can get the hospital to set up a protocal for snake bites in the future so no one else dies needlessly.
We have 2 high profile legal offices looking in to this now and also presented it to a seminar as a case study. They all feel we have a very good case to pursue.
Can you send me any information on how a Urutu snake bite should be treated.
Just for some more information, her freind in Florida said they should not use morphine for pain, which they did??
From what information I have been able to get on the internet, they all say a PC like yours should have been contacted. Why they didn't we do not know.
Please contact me as soon as possible with any information that will help our case.
Your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated so we can get on with our lives and hope we can prevent what happened to our daughter not happen to someone else.
Ray Balow
rbalow@woh.rr.com
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RE: Urutu Snake Bite
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by tj on February 2, 2005
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Ray,
I'd like to start off by giving you my condolences.
Although I'm not a doctor, I do know that Cro-fab should not under any circumstances be given to an urutu bite victim, even as a last resort. The reaction alone could be fatal to the person. I have a web-site that should be of use to you, it should have everything you want, even contacts to doctors who treat bothrops bites.
http://www.butantan.gov.br/english/infcient_herp2.htm
I hope everything works out, and again, I am deeply sorry for your loss.
Take care and good luck.
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RE: Urutu Snake Bite
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by Phobos on February 2, 2005
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Ray:
Sorry for your loss. Is this the lady that was reported bitten in Ohio?
You said she was given "Only given 8 vials of CroFab" They gave her CroFab? Are you sure? CroFab is the wrong antivenom for this kind of venomous snake. The polyspecific Brazilian antivenom "Anti-Bothropic" was the one they should have used or one of the two others they produce for Bothrops. The older USA antivenom made by Wyeth Labs "Antivenin (Crotalidae) Polyvalent" could have been used in a "Pinch" since it had good cross reactivity with Bothrops unlike CroFab which has no metion of Bothrops in it's perscribing information.
To all of the other listeners out there: Big Lesson Here.
Do you have a bite protocol made up ready to go for each snake you keep and the required antivenom? If you don't keep your own stock of Antivenom (which you should) do you have listed in your emergency protocol what antivenom should be used in order of preference? Did you list the institutions where it's stocked and the phone # of a bite expert you trust? Don't rely on the ER doctor to know what to do! That could be your final mistake.
Al Coritz
North Eastern Antivenom Bank
www.neavb.org
coritz@neavb.org
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RE: Urutu Snake Bite
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by Phobos on February 2, 2005
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Aaron:
Just so you know...It has been reported in the scientifc journals that Crofab does not work too well neutralizing Copperhead venom. They are not exactly sure why but more studies are underway. If you need A/V for a bite maybe wise to have them use the Wyeth Crotalid if available.
Al
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RE: Urutu Snake Bite
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by BGF on February 2, 2005
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Based upon what you have posted, they grossly mismanged the bite. If they were in over their head, with no experience or clue in how to treat an exotic snakebite, then they were under a medical obligation to seek outside information. Anything else is clearly malpractice. Crofab would have had very little useful cross-reactivity with a Bothrops envenomation. As posted above, there is in existance (and well stocked in Florida) an effective antivenom that would have worked.
I am saddened to hear of your very avoidable loss and I hope you sue them out of practice!
All the best
Bryan
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
ARC-APD Research Fellow
http://www.venomdoc.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit,
Level 8,
School of Medicine,
University of Melbourne,
Parkville, Victoria
3010 Australia
Phone 61 3 8344 7753
Fax 61 3 9348 2048
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RE: Urutu Snake Bite
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by ALA_herp31 on February 2, 2005
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Ray, I am truly saddened by your loss, as im sure we all are. I hope that you and your family can find closure on this. It is truly sad to see anyone in our community pass on in this way. We as Venomous keepers, form a very small part of this Country, but we stick together when it comes down to the lose of a fellow herper. Again I would like to offer my deepest condolences to you and your family.............Be safe, Wally
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