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Meth Fills Hospitals With Burn Patients

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Jan 23, 2012 at 10:26 AM MDT

Story Updated: Jan 23, 2012 at 10:26 AM MDT

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A crude new method of making methamphetamine
poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the
drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn
patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment - a
burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn
units. So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. The slightest error can cause an explosion resulting in disfigurement, blindness, even death.An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation's most
active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some
burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured.
One study found that the average meth patient runs up medical bills
of $130,000.

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