22 Mad medicine (Urban legends)
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This article is from the Urban legends FAQ, by Terry Chan tchan@dante.lbl.gov and Peter van der Linden linden@eng.sun.com with numerous contributions by others.
22 Mad medicine (Urban legends)
T. London doctor struck off for inveigling Turkish peasants to donate a kidney.
F.*Dr. C. Drew, a plasma researcher; bleeds to death when hospital turns him
(a black man) away. [Similar story with death of Blues great Bessie Smith.]
U. Hypnosis is a fake! Net says "Yes, no, zzzz". [But does remove warts.]
F. Flowers are bad in hospital rooms because they suck oxygen out of air.
T. (Wo)man takes huge quantity of baking soda as an antacid and ends up with
CO2 rupturing stomach.
U. Woman had "tree in the bedina" -- potato used as pessary, sprouted...
U. Woman had "Smiling Mighty Jesus" -- spinal meningitis.
U. Woman had "sick as hell anemia" -- sickle cell anemia
U. Woman named child "Nosmo King" after sign on delivery room door.
T. There're lots of stupid sounding names. I don't need to hear anymore of 'em.
F. There is a special ward for "Newky Brown" addicts in Newcastle General
F.*Person's hair turns entirely white "overnight" from stress.
T.*Some people sneeze when exposed to bright light ("photic sneeze effect").
Tb.You can catch diseases (crabs, lice, herpes, VD, etc) from public toilets.
Tb.Patient died when intravenously given Kaopectate.
U. FDA approval causes cancer.
T. Yes, we've heard of Coca-cola as a douche, but if you're that desperate,
you're in big trouble.
T. Coca-cola is acidic. Wow.
Tb.Drinking large quantities of deionized/distilled water over a long period
of time can screw you up due to ion imbalances.
F. Hair/nails continue to grow after death.
T. They appear to as the corpse shrinks.
F. Hair grows back thicker or faster if you shave it.
F. Woman sees doc with irritated eye. Sez a male stripper rubbed his pouch in
her eye. Doc checks and removes a louse from it.
F. "Ear lobe" repair is booming in NYC because thieves rip earrings off women.
F. Thugs hide under cars in malls and cut ankles of women returning to cars.
[See "The Slasher Under the Car" in TBT.]
Tb.Rat(s) eat face of child while child is near adult in poor side of town.
F.*An autopsy reveals big hairballs in lungs of a man who breathed in bits
of hair while he worked, and thus suffocated him.
T.*RT's wife's small hair ball nearly killed her. And she's got a big scar.
F. Girl dies of big hairball in stomach from chewing on ends of her braids.
[Above two in "The Hair Ball" in TMP.]
F. Mime has heart attack during act. People think it's part of act; he dies.
T. ...It happened to Tommy Cooper (though he's not a mime).
T. ...someone emailed a UPI report about this happening to Dick Shawn.
F. B.F. Skinner's daughter died/committed suicide/sued because of she was
reared in a Skinner box/special crib.
Fb.Left-handed people have shorter life spans than righties.
Fb.Women/people shouldn't sit on cold cement or metal 'cause it might hurt
their plumbing or cause piles.
F.*You can catch a cold by being chilled.
U. Jamie Lee Curtis is a hermaphrodite.
T. Like with any celebrity, there are lots of rumors about her.
T. There're all sorts of rumors about the AIDS virus being developed by
various institutions.
T. The stories have generally been dull and boring.
Tb*Guillotined persons may remain conscious long enough to blink.
F.*Knuckle cracking will lead to arthritis. [Though you might get other probs.]
Tb.*...it may damage your hand in other ways see
http://www.panix.com/~iayork/knuckles.html
F.*Drunks are more relaxed, less likely to be hurt in car accidents.
F. A series of hospital deaths was due to a janitor who unplugged life-
support systems to plug in a floor polisher.
[See http://www.legends.org.za/arthur/cleanfaq.htm]
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