Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

Influx of patients is overwhelming hospitals and becoming a major factor in the closure of some burn wards.

Monday, January 23, 2012

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.

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Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This photo provided Jan. 19, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows shows the scene of a shake-and-bake lab explosion at a home in Clarksville, Tenn., in December, 2011. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, Jesse Reynolds)

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Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows the aftermath what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle that burned in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)

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Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This photo provided Jan. 19, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows shows the interior of a home in Clarksville, Tenn., damaged by a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion in December, 2011. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, Jesse Reynolds)

This gallery appears with:

Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This dashboard police video photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle burning in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)

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Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department shows shake-and-bake meth ingredients found at house that burned from a meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff’s Department )

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Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

Meth Filling Hospitals with Burn Patients

This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department shows firefighters battling a blaze from a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, at a house in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, 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. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff’s Department )

This gallery appears with:

Meth Burn Patients Give Hospitals New Difficulties

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