Doctors successfully removed a two-inch nail from a man's genitals yesterday. Doctors pulled the nail out of his urethra on their first attempt and later said the man could have died if the object had not been spotted on X-ray. The man had admitted himself to SMC on Sunday night with extreme abdominal pain and was unable to speak. The man told doctors the last thing he remembered was having something sprayed in his face and being fondled by one of his assailants before he blacked out. [more inside]
posted by Henry C. Mabuse on Feb 14, 2008 - 56 comments

Learn how to floss on Dental Movies dot com! Or learn more about what could go wrong with your teeth if you don't. Lots of fine dental info, with amusing animated gifs. Do you have bad breath? It's too bad they've had to temporarily shut down their offer for free simulated dental makeovers.
posted by owhydididoit on Aug 14, 2006 - 6 comments

A meth bust turned deeply odd in East Palo Alto, California when an underground hospital clinic was discovered in a drug raid on a house owned by a Stanford Hospital employee. The world of underground medicine has been memorably fictionalized in film, but it can be argued that [nytfilter: metabooty/bootytastic] the real thing is plenty bizarre (link possibly NSFW) on its own merits.

On the other hand, what constitutes underground medicine? You can go with the literal definition, or you can consider this recent near-miss with one of the most persistent urban legends. However, as is often the case, the most entertainingly impassioned defenses of "underground medicine" are those promulgated by "alternative health" practitioners (mustache possibly NSFW).
posted by scrump on May 9, 2006 - 12 comments

The Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia is a collection of medical oddities and exhibits about disease. It is the home of the Soap Lady, Chang and Eng's liver, a tumor from a U.S. president, and a rather massive colon. Gretchen Worden, director of the museum since 1988, recently passed away.
posted by titanshiny on Aug 16, 2004 - 20 comments