Man Dies After Snake Bite...

[SHANEA]

http://www.dailysentinel.com/search/content/news/police/stories/2007/03/18/cops_0318_police_report.html

POLICE REPORTS: Man dies a week after snakebite


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The Daily Sentinel

Saturday, March 17, 2007

A 40-year-old Cushing man died early Saturday — a week after being bitten by a copperhead snake.

Mark Mahaffey died at about 1 a.m. Saturday at Nacogdoches Medical Center, according to Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Kerry Williamson, but the official cause of death had not been determined as of press time Saturday. An autopsy has been ordered.

About 8,000 venomous snakebites are reported in the U.S. each year, but only five to 12 are deadly, according to Dr. Paul Risk, a biologist and former SFA forestry professor. Half of venomous snakebites are "dry," which means they inject no venom, Risk said.

"Copperheads are not that venomous," Risk said. "Often, they (doctors) don't have to treat the bites with antivenin."

Copperheads can control the amount of venom they inject, he said, and they have the ability to strike multiple times.

According to Laird Funeral Home, Mahaffey's funeral will be held in Oberlin, La.

[BigBendHiker]

A sad reminder of what can happen with a snakebite.

BBH

[homerboy2u]

Too bad for the guy, he was my age

[SHANEA]

Unfortunately, we will probably never learn the "circumstances" of this snake bite resulting in a death.  Many questions remain unanswered:
1.  How long did the man wait before he sought treatment?
2.  What underlying health conditions did he have that might have aggrevated the situation - heart problems, diabetis, etc.?
3.  Was the man allergic to the snake bite or the antivenin?
4.  Did the hospital/Dr.'s administer antivenin or wait-and-see?

Maybe MountainDocDanny can glean more details on this or give us his insight?

[presidio]

Unfortunately, we will probably never learn the "circumstances" of this snake bite resulting in a death.  Many questions remain unanswered:
1.  How long did the man wait before he sought treatment?
2.  What underlying health conditions did he have that might have aggrevated the situation - heart problems, diabetis, etc.?
3.  Was the man allergic to the snake bite or the antivenin?
4.  Did the hospital/Dr.'s administer antivenin or wait-and-see?

(Hoping to be facetious...but the odds are against me) It will all come out in the lawsuit...as to who acted incorrectly, or failed to act, or acted too slowly.

[tinneyr]

3.  Was the man allergic to the snake bite or the antivenin?

Personally, I hope I never find out whether I'm allergic or not to a snake bite.