As can be attested by every child who ever pulled a tooth, put it under their pillow and the next day woke up dead.
…wouldn’t removed body parts be crucial evidence in a medical malpractice lawsuit? consider this:
-“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury; my client maintains that instead of removing a cancerous tumor, the defendent in this case removed her boobs!”
-(Defense Counsel): “Since no trace remains of the aforementioned glands, we move to dismiss!”
…etc.
Hmm… I could have sworn the training hospital I had my wisdom teeth removed from gave me back my wisdom teeth post-removal… Of course they were shattered into dozens of pieces because they were being quite resilient and they had to hammer or drill them out or something.
Teeth are that big of biohazards?
I am going out on a limb here and predict that the dollar bill the tooth fairy will give you in exchange for that tooth has more icky stuff on it than the tooth itself.
No doubt. “Biohazard” was my DDS’s term; I am merely quoting him.
Biohazardous does not mean that you’ll drop dead if you’re exposed to it. It means (in this context) that it’s a part of someone’s body, and there’s a chance that person had some disease transmittable through blood or tissue exposure like Hepatitis B or HIV. That’s why medical waste has to be labeled as such, and there are regulations about its disposal and transportation. If it’s yours, you’re not really in any danger, but there’s a risk of exposure to others.
After working in the hospital lab, and developing the habit of throwing out all the blood-contaminated materials in specially labeled biohazard bags, I have a hard time throwing out my own bloody band-aids at home. But a person at home, throwing out a gauze soaked with his own blood, or putting a child’s lost baby tooth under a pillow, isn’t held to the same rules as a hospital or a dentist’s office, where these same items would be considered “medical waste”.
Huh. This thread reminded me of when my grandmother died in the hospital. We were removing her jewelry and couldn’t get her wedding ring off. They were going to cut it off, and I objected. I figured, not to be gross or anything, but if she’s dead and is going to be cremated anyway, why not cut the finger off, instead of wrecking her ring?
The nursing staff informed me that it was not allowed, as there could be a question later of whether we got the finger back with the rest of the body, did we get the correct finger, etc. More headache than it was worth for the hospital, I guess.
I suppose it’s a lawsuit fear.
I like the way you think, EJsGirl! If I’d been there, my response to the nurse would’ve been, “Well, heck, if you’re just worried about that, you don’t have to do it. I’ve got a pocketknife right here!”