8 Scariest Medical Stories Of 2013

There are a lot of scary things in this world. But some of the scariest are those that just seem to sneak up on you. One day, you wake up with painful scratching sounds in your ear, a strange liquid pouring out onto your pillow. Another day, you're out for a hike in the woods. You brush up on a flower, and begin to feel a painful burning sensation on your leg or, just as bad, a swarm of hornets suddenly attacks. Other times, it's not your own suffering that's scary, but watching as another person suffers, almost as if you're watching a real-life horror movie. Our list of 2013's scariest medical stories will make you question the places you travel, the surgeries you undergo, the things you eat, the water you swim in, and just how innocent that fly landing on you, if only for a brief moment, really is. Here we go.

Fleshy Diet Pills

Many people will go through great lengths to get that perfect physique, whether it’s through exercise, diet, or diet pills. According to Marketdata Enterprises, Inc., a leading independent market research publisher, the combined sales of diet pills and meal replacements was an estimated $2.69 billion in 2010. That’s a lot of dieting.

So, in an effort to satisfy these hungry dieters — and their own tuition costs — a pair of Chinese students, studying in Jeju, South Korea, bought 3,000 diet pills and 500 detox pills from a Chinese website, in October, for $2,000 (2.3 million won). They then smuggled them illegally into the South Korean island to sell at a marked-up price — they made a profit of over $5,000 from 80 customers. However, their booming business came to a quick end, as police discovered the illegal pills.

Testing from Jeju’s National Forensic Service found that the pills contained two illegal substances: phenolphthalein — a laxative that has been linked to a risk of cancer — and sibutramine — a dietary suppressant associated with cardiovascular disease. But while this was surprising enough, the pills also tested 100 percent positive for human flesh. Although it’s unclear where they came from, the finding is reminiscent of a previous South Korean investigation that found capsules containing ground-up dead fetuses and newborns — believed to be a natural remedy in some Korean-Chinese communities.

The Giant Hogweed Plant Will Blind You

When it comes to “unfriendly” plants, most people might think of poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac, all of which cause itchy, red rashes that manifest as bumps or blisters. But there’s a much larger plant to look out for. An innocent hike through the woods in the Northeast and Northwest can lead to a visit to the emergency room, because brushing up against pretty much any part of the giant hogweed plant can lead to painful blisters, scarring, discoloration of the skin, and even blindness.

The giant hogweed is an invasive weed that grows up to 14 feet tall. It recently began spreading throughout the Northeast region; however, it has been in the U.S. for a few hundred years. Its toxins, called furanocoumarins, are photoactive, meaning that their toxicity strengthens with exposure to ultraviolet light. Besides causing blisters and scarring, the toxins also make the skin sensitive to sunlight for many years after initial contact. These effects are exacerbated for the eyes, which are even more vulnerable to the toxins. The NYC Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that anyone who comes into contact with the plant wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water, and to keep the area away from sunlight for 48 hours. For more information on how to spot a giant hogweed, go to the department’s website.

Butt Implants Gone Terribly Wrong

Butt — buttocks, to keep it formal — implants have been growing in popularity over the past decade, even though they took a tumble in 2012. There are currently about 3,800 procedures performed each year, but that number doesn’t include the countless others that are unlicensed and dangerous — often ending in excruciating pain and even death. Such was the case for one woman earlier this year, whose decision to get buttocks injections ended her life.

In June, 28-year-old Suyima Torres paid $2,300 to Cuerpos Health Aesthetics in Miami, Fla. to receive a second round of buttocks injections. She paid in cash for the procedure, which was done by a man from Venezuela who claimed to be a doctor, according to court documents. However, upon leaving the clinic, witnesses reported that Torres looking dazed. Ten hours later, she had died. During the time that Torres was alive with the injections, she posted a 20-second video clip on YouTube, showing how strange — and terrifying — her implants were. In the video, she shows how easy it is for her to flip them around — one moment it’s round, and the next, it’s a protruding flat hump. It was later discovered that the injections did not contain silicone, and instead, were a yellow, oily substance. South Florida police were looking into the matter as a homicide.

Brain-eating amoeba

Those who went out for a swim this summer had something to watch out for. If they chose the wrong spot, they could have been putting themselves at risk of the parasitic infection caused by the brain-eating amoeba — primary amebic meningoencephalitis. The brain-eating amoeba, scientifically known as Naegleria fowleri, infected the brains of three children this past summer, with only one surviving — a medical miracle, considering that since the first U.S. case appeared in 1962, only two other people out of 128 survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

N. fowleri thrives in warm fresh water, such as lakes, hot springs, and rivers. It enters the body when a strong force of water goes up the nose, subsequently traveling up the olfactory nerve until it gets to the brain, where it begins to destroy tissue. The parasite’s threat comes from the speed with which it kills its victims. In a matter of one to seven days, it can cause brain damage, and eventual death.

For the three children who became ill this summer, one was playing in a water-filled ditch, another was playing on a slip ‘n slide water toy, and the last one — the one who survived — was at a lake-based waterpark. The girl who survived was treated promptly, with a German breast cancer drug not yet approved in the U.S., and although the other children were also treated with the drug, the amoeba had already destroyed too much tissue. At this time, N. fowleri lives primarily in the southern regions of the U.S., however, climate change could be causing the bacteria to move north.

The Deadliest Substance Ever

Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria responsible for causing botulism, is already relatively rare — there are only about 145 cases each year, according to the CDC. People typically become infected when they consume the toxic spores produced by the bacteria, and infants are affected the most, with 65 percent of them becoming infected each year. Symptoms include muscle weakness, slurred speech, blurred vision, and other symptoms of being paralyzed, which can sometimes — only sometimes — lead to death. But in October, a new toxin produced by the bacteria was discovered. As the eighth type, it was already ultra rare, but for what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in its ability to kill. Scientists deemed it the world’s deadliest substance.

The toxin, which was classified as botulinum toxin H — the others range from A through G — was found in the feces of a child who had the disease. The toxin was so deadly that inhaling only 13-billionths of a gram, or injecting two-billionths of a gram, could be deadly. By comparison, it takes one-tenth of a gram of arsenic — one of the most popular poisons — to kill someone. Scientists discovered the severity of disease caused by toxin H when they administered antibodies for toxin types A through G on mice and rabbits, and found that they had only a small effect. The scientists who found the toxin even withheld the toxin’s gene sequence out of fear that it would get into the wrong hands.

Two Words: Giant Hornets

Also known as Vespa mandarinia, giant hornets are native to temperate and tropical East Asia. An adult can grow up to 1.8 inches long — five times the size and 20 times the weight of a honeybee. But that’s not including their quarter-inch-long stinger, which injects a large amount of potent venom into its prey. And although they typically prey on entire colonies of honeybees, they sometimes attack humans, too.

Such was the case in October, when the hornets were associated with 42 deaths and 1,675 injuries over the course of three months in the Chinese cities of Hanzhong, Shangluo, and Angkang. The relentless attackers inflicted multiple stings all over their victims’ bodies, which, together with the venom, caused deep, gaping holes, and started to dissolve tissue. “The hornets were horrifying,” Mu Conghui, a local victim, told CNN. “They hit right at my head and covered my legs. All of a sudden I was stung and I couldn’t move. Even now, my legs are covered with sting holes.” Conghui got over 200 stitches and received 13 dialysis treatments over the course of her two-month hospital stay.

Krokodil: Injecting Gasoline Into Your Veins

The poor-man’s drug for heroin users, krokodil induces a similar high but is three times cheaper than the opioid drug. But injecting it comes with some of, if not the most horrific effects any drug user might ever see. Although its real name is desomorphine, it’s called "krokodil" because of its ability to turn users skin green, scaly, and scar-ridden, as if they’ve been bitten by crocodiles, or are turning into one. It causes blood vessels to burst, and destroys flesh from the inside out, rotting it at the point of injection. If an addict is able to survive past two years — the average life expectancy of a user — they are likely to have amputated limbs, scars for the rest of their lives, speech impediments, impaired motor skills, and other forms of brain damage.

The drug’s harmfulness comes from the fact that it’s made with things that, simply, shouldn’t go into the body under any circumstances. Codeine, an opioid, is the primary ingredient, but it’s then mixed with hydrocarbons — oil, alcohol, or gasoline — along with a number of other dangerous ingredients, such as paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, and sometimes red phosphorus taken from the tips of matches. Users typically boil these ingredients together and then filter out — or believe they're filtering out — the harmful ingredients.

The drug originally appeared in Russia sometime around 2002. By 2011, there were over 2.5 million Russians seeking treatment for the addiction, Time reported. Recently, there were reports that the drug had made its way to the U.S., where cases were reportedly seen in Arizona and Illinois. By far, though, the scariest case of the drug occurred in Mexico last week. The case involved a 17-year-old girl who had injected the drug into her vagina over the course of two months. “The young woman who used this drug had an infection that had rotted her genitals,” José Sotero Ruiz Hernández, of Mexico’s National Intitute of Migration, told El Periodico Correo.

The effects are gruesome, but if you have the stomach, check them out here.

An Ear Full Of Maggots

Thinking too deeply into this one might cause extreme paranoia the next time you get a headache. The New World Screwworm Fly is typically a parasite of cattle, sheep, and horses in Central and South America. It gains entry through wounds and mucous membranes, where it lays eggs, according to Discover Magazine. Between eight and 15 hours later, two-centimeter-long larvae hatch, causing unbearable pain. The larvae’s body resemble the part of a light bulb that you would screw in, and are used for precisely that: burrowing deeper. Adding to the horror, the larvae also have tusk-like mandibles, which they use to rip and dissolve flesh.

In July, following a trip to Peru, one British woman fell victim to these larvae. Rochelle Harris, 27, had just gotten back to her home in England when she began to feel pain on the side of her face. The pain was excruciating, but it was soon followed by constant, loud scratching sounds, as the larvae moved inside her. She woke up the next morning with a soaking wet pillow, a substance dropping from her ear. Upon visiting the hospital, doctors initially hesitated to tell her exactly what was happening. “My mum said. ‘Please tell us,’ and that’s when the doctor said, ‘You’ve got maggots in your ear.’ I burst into tears instantly ... I was very scared — I wondered if they were in my brain,” Harris told reporters.

The doctors found eight maggots that had eaten their way through her ear canal. When the doctors tried to drown the maggots in olive oil, they only moved deeper inside. Harris eventually underwent surgery, and brain scans showed that she had been vindicated of the writhing parasites. Luckily, there were no lasting damages. The take away from this story: Don’t walk through swarms of flies when traveling abroad. Harris remembered a fly in one of these swarms briefly landing in her ear, but it was just long enough to lay eggs.