1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (93 page)

J. Eric Oliver, Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic (Oxford University Press, 2006).

697

FACT :
Surgical tools found in most operating rooms are
similar to items you might find in a wood shop
, including saws, drills, chisels, and clamps.

Other tools are the rongeur—French for “gnawer”—a type of bone chisel, and retractors like the rib spreader, which uses a rack-and-pinion system to force apart ribs and tissue for surgical access to the internal cavity.
I apologize for this chapter. It wasn’t my idea, I swear.

Cynthia Spry, Essentials of Perioperative Nursing, 3rd ed. (Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2005).

“The Rib Spreader: A Chapter in the History of Thoracic Surgery,” Chest, May 1972, 469–474.

698

FACT :
According to 2001 U.S. Justice Department statistics, though 90 percent of medical malpractice trials alleged that the error had caused death or permanent injury,
the win rate for malpractice plaintiffs was only 27 percent
. From 2000 to 2004, most malpractice suits in seven states resulted in no compensation for plaintiffs.
This must be why medical insurance costs rarely go up.

“Medical Malpractice Trials and Verdicts in Large Counties, 2001,” U.S. Department Of Justice, Bureau Of Justice Statistics,
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
.

“Majority of Medical Malpractice Claims in Seven States Closed Without Compensation Payments,” U.S. Department Of Justice, Office Of Justice Programs, March 25, 2007,
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
.

699

FACT :
England’s Queen Victoria (1837– 1901) eased the discomfort of her menstrual cramps with
marijuana supplied by her doctor
.
Even after menopause. Oops—she forgot to tell him.

“Medical Marijuana,” Canadian Foundation For Drug Policy,
www.cfdp.ca
.

700

FACT :
In the early 1900s, aspirin-maker
Bayer also commercially developed and sold heroin
for several medicinal uses, including cough suppression.
I’m sure heroin suppresses many things.

“Before Prohibition: Images from the Preprohibition Era when Many Psychotropic Substances Were Legally Available in America and Europe,” University at Buffalo Department of Psychology, Addiction Research Unit, September 2001,
www.wings.buffalo.edu
.

CHAPTER 15
They Did
What?

Not-So-Proud
Moments in
World History

701

FACT : Ancient Romans used human urine
as an ingredient in their toothpaste.
At least it wasn’t pig urine. That would be disgusting.

Joel Levy, Really Useful: The Origins of Everyday Things (Firefly Books, 2003).

702

FACT :
Cruel treatment of slaves was forbidden in ancient Babylon by the Code of Hammu-rabi, but the code also commanded that
slaves be branded on the forehead
and forbidden to hide their mark.
That’s why the Dress Code Of Hammurabi forbade headbands and ‘do-rags.

Isaac Asimov, ed., Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979).

703

FACT :
When a body was mummified in Ancient Egypt,
the brain was removed through the nostrils
, and other organs were stored in jars. Only the heart was left in the corpse.
I don’t want to know how they got the other organs out. But I can guess. Hint: not through the nostrils.

A. Lucas and John Richard Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 4th ed. (Courier Dover Publications, 1999).