Man bites off tip of doctor's finger after being denied drugs

Cape Coral police are looking for a 48-year old man who bit off part of a physician's finger Thursday morning after the doctor refused to write him a script for drugs.  Police said Gregory S. Powell became "irate" and bit the doctor several times, "including a bite that actually removed a piece of a finger, including the finger nail."  Police have issued a warrant for Powell, charging him with aggravated battery, according to the Fort Myers News-Press, which said the physician was treated for his injury at a local emergency room was expected to be back in his office sometime in the afternoon.

"Fish pedicures" disallowed in FL salons

Listen up, pilgrims.  The Florida Board of Cosmetology has spoken (PDF; page 10).  At its January meeting, reports the Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, it clearly stated that "fish pedicures" are not permitted in salons.

Fish pedicures?

This particular piscatorial procedure, which apparently originated in Japan, involves putting your feet in a vat of water and allowing a shoal of tiny carp to nibble away at the dead skin.

You may eschew this particular procedure because you think it's weird.  The cosmetology board, however, cites concerns about rules involving sanitation and the prohibition of animals (except for service animals) in salons.  (Photo:  Associated Press)

Swim at own risk

Swimmers should shower before and after taking a dip in the ocean. That’s the advice of a University of Miami microbiologist, who found that 37 percent of swimmers at a South Florida beach emerged dripping water with staph in it. Three percent was the dangerous drug-resistant staph, MRSA. Dr. Lisa Plano presented her study at a science conference on Friday, the Associated Press reports.

Miami couple's insurance canceled for 4 cent underpayment

NBC6.net reports that a Miami couple's insurance was canceled by Blue Cross and Blue Shield because they underpaid their premium by 4 cents.  According to the TV station, Linda and John Chace received a letter last October from Ceridian, which handles the insurer's billing, informing them their monthly premium had increased from $508.55 to $588.59 -- a bump of $80.04.   Linda Chace said she mailed off a check for $80, but failed to notice the extra 4 cents.  She said Blue Cross mailed the check back, informing the couple that they had failed to pay their premium in full and that their policy was canceled.

“I’m sorry you were terminated because there was a 4 cents difference in October that you didn't pay," the cancellation letter explained, according to Linda Chace.

Linda Chase recently lost her job as an accountant.  John Chace, a guitar teacher, has had limited success in finding work.  “How many other people has this happened to?” John Chase said to the TV station. “How many hundreds or thousands of families get the same sort of error because it was so minor?"

The Chaces made numerous calls to both Ceridian and Blue Cross, and were basically told sorry, can't be fixed.  But once the TV station started investigating -- as is so often the case -- the situation was quickly rectified.  NBC6 received a letter from the insurer that said, “The payment system did not recognize the partial payment made by Mrs. Chace and automatically sent out the cancellation letter pursuant to Florida statutes. We are pleased to reinstate Mrs. Chace's coverage."

Woman accused of injecting buttocks illegally

TAMPA -- Sheriff's deputies are seeking a Tampa woman they say illegally injected silicone and saline into two women's buttocks.

Sharhonda L. Lindsay, 32, of 9827 Blue Palm Way, left, was not licensed when she administered the cosmetic enhancements on Jan. 29, according to sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway.

Lindsay met the women at one of their homes, where the victims agreed to pay Lindsay to inject them with Hydrogel and saline solution, Callaway said.

One of the women paid $500 for 40 injections. And the other paid $250 for 20 injections.

After Lindsay left, Callaway said, the victims experienced pain and discomfort, and were taken to Town & Country Hospital for internal injuries.

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Read the full story at Tampabay.com.

A sewage pipe is not a trampoline

A juvenile prank sent a gush of sewage into a canal that streams into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, according to arrest reports from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Three teens  jumped on a sewage pipe to rupture it and also threw tires into a canal in Port Richey. The pipe burst, sending more than 1,000 gallons of sewage into the canal. The Sheriff’s Office said the damage is more than $15,000 and had “an unknown effect on the environment.”

All three students were arrested and charged with criminal mischief and illegal dumping. They were taken to the Land O’Lakes jail.

Times Staff Writer

Woman hopes brain scan Virgin Mary image can help pay medical bills

Hoping to raise money to pay off some medical bills, an ailing  42-year old Fort Pierce woman plans to sell an MRI scan of her brain on eBay, reports TCPalm.  Why would you want a picture of someone else's brain?  Well, in this particular brain scan, an image of the Virgin Mary appears.  Or at least that's what Pamela Latrimore's sister-in-law saw, when she plucked the scan from Lattimore's oversize pile of medical records back in 2002.

Lattimore, suffering from cancer and a variety of other ailments, blames her medical condition on possible exposure to dioxin during her childhood in Jacksonville, AR.  Having noticed that other unusual objects with supposed images of religious icons had sold on eBay, she feels this might be a way of earning cash to pay some of the medical bills that she and her husband cannot afford.

Deputy says heavily-armed man planned to start war on neighbors

After someone called and requested a "welfare check,'' a deputy arrived at a surborban Lake Worth home to find an unsettling scene, palmbeachpost.com reports.

"I noticed the house was extremely dirty and that there was ammunition all over," the deputy wrote. When the deputy asked about all the weapones, resident Robert Thompson Scott, 44, reportedly said he was planning to kill as many people as possible and had devised explosive devices to kill his neighbors. The man then threatened have the deputy killed and tortured if he were to be sent to jail, the deputy said.

The deputy then called the sheriff's bomb squad and helped arrange for Scott to undergo a mental evaluation.

Photo from Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Theft of $300 during ambulance ride leads to paramedic's arrest

A Pasco County paramedic is accused of stealing money from a patient's wallet this summer while he was transporting the 71-year-old man to a hospital.

Joshua Vitori, 26, was arrested Saturday on a charge of grand theft. Pasco County personnel director Barbara DiSimone said he plans to resign from his job today.

According to a Sheriff's Office report, on July 15 Vitori went by ambulance to a home on Carnation Lane in Zephyrhills, where a man was having chest pains. The man's wife handed his wallet to a paramedic to retrieve his insurance card. A few minutes later, the man was asked for a list of medications and was handed his wallet back, the report says.

That's when he discovered the money — $300 — missing.

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Read the full story at Tampabay.com.

But honey, I wasn't there for the strippers

Men visiting a Casselbery strip club had a ready-made excuse when they got home. But they might not have needed one; their wives might have gone to the club with them.

Rachel's, a club known for its adult entertainment and steak house, was offering free flu shots for anyone 55 years and older, according to wesh.com. Anyone who was at least 65 also received a free lunch at the club's restaurant. Those younger than 55 could still get a flu shot, but had to pay a fee.

"People start calling months ahead of time, asking when we're giving flu shots," Rachel's spokesperson Deanna Meredith told cfnews.com.

This is the sixth time Rachel's, which has three locations, has sponsored the event, which this year helped convince browardpalmbeach.com to name it Best Strip Joint.