Guy Tries to Take Selfie With Rattlesnake, Ends up With $153K Medical Bill

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In a list of objects/humans/animals that I wouldn’t want to pose for a selfie with, a rattlesnake is up there in the top 10. Unfortunately for Todd Fassler, he didn’t have quite the same level of caution and found himself bitten by said rattlesnake when posing for a selfie with it in San Diego, USA earlier this month.

The Centre for Disease Control estimates that around 7000 people a year are bit by a venomous snake in the United States, with five or six people dying a year. So that, in itself, is not too bad a ratio but Fassler’s bite is likely to leave him hurting longer than most; mainly because of the $153,000 bill that came with it.

It’s unconfirmed as to whether Fassler has insurance or not to cover this bill but either way, it’s still going to hurt in the long run. Also, I imagine $83,341.25 sounds pretty steep for pharmacy, right? Right indeed. This is the charge for the anti-venom used to treat the bite. According to KGTV, Fessler depleted the anti-venom at two local hospitals during his five-day visit.

There’s currently only one commercially available anti-venom for treating snakebites in the United States which is CroFab, manufactured by UK-based BTG plc. The companies last annual report shows CroFab topped out at close to $98 million last fiscal year.

Attempts to reach Fassler for comment have been unsuccessful, he’s probably tending his wounds – both the literal and metaphorical. He’s pretty fortunate the snake didn’t just eat him for dinner.