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Gynacology and Health

Rape, Rapex, Brushes

Condoms With Barbs And Lethal Barbecue Brushes

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Do many rapists know that a condom could put them on the operating table? Not many. And how many people believe that barbecuing can have a lethal outcome? Not many. Life is indeed full of surprises.

Sonette Ehlers, a South African, has invented an anti-rape device called, "Rapex". It's made of latex and is placed like a condom inside the female vagina. But there the comparison to the male condom ends. Rapex also has a number of sharp barbs that hook onto the penis during sexual assault. I imagine it must be like having a dozen fish hooks attached to your John Henry. "Ouch"

The best part of this report is that the barbs, once attached to the penis, can only be removed by surgery and a rapist can thus be delivered to the police. What a great idea!

As a surgeon I'd be a poor choice to remove these barbs. I've always thought that if a woman said "NO", it meant no, unless she smiled. So I have zero empathy for rapists. I know that I'd be sorely tempted to remove, not only the barbs, but also the "you know what".

Anti-rape advocates argue that the device puts the burden on women to solve the problem. They feel that society should be focusing on the ills of mankind that motivate rapes. But if I were a woman I couldn't buy this argument. That approach could take a thousand years.

If I'm being raped I‘m not thinking about the philosophical dilemma on the ills of society. I want the rapist caught, and to pay dearly for his act. Hopefully, Sonette Ehlers will make this happen. Her condoms sell for only fifteen cents each. My congratulations to her.

In addition to thinking about barbs on condoms this week my mind was focused on wire brush bristles for cleaning the barbecue. Although it was cold outside I cleaned the barbecue with great care.

A report by Dr. Paolo Campisi, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children had caught my eye. During the past year doctors have removed broken-off wire bristles from the throats of three children. One case was nearly fatal.

Bristles from the barbecue brush had been left on the grill after scraping off the greasy gunk from hamburgers and hot dogs. One of the bristles became attached later to a steak and when the meat was swallowed it lodged in the esophagus (food pipe) of a 15 year old boy.

The boy said he felt a cutting feeling at the back of his throat and couldn't swallow more food. Since the steak had a burnt piece at one end he believed this had just burned his throat.

The next morning both the boy and his mother had a fever and thought they had come down with a bug. Their family doctor shared the suspicion, did a throat culture and a test for mononucleosis, and sent them home.

The diagnostic air started to clear only when the mother quickly recovered, but not her son. 10 days later he was still feverish and unable to eat. This is when an X-ray at a walk-in clinic revealed a three centimeter object lodged in his throat.

Later a CT scan showed that a metal bristle had perforated his esophagus and migrated to the side of his neck just above the shoulder. It was surrounded by a capsule of pus and was situated between the carotid artery and the jugular vein, a rather precarious location.

Dr Campisi and another surgeon operated and removed the bristle. The boy quickly recovered.

The President of the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association of Canada said he was unaware of this problem. Grill manufacturers in the U.S. were also not aware of bristles breaking off.

However, Dr. Campisi says that a search of the medical literature shows that a number of such cases have been reported as early as the 1950s. So, as often happens, there are few new things under the sun.

The moral? If you get a sore throat after eating a barbecued meal you might tell the doctor to suspect a lost bristle. I'm sure the boy's family now has the cleanest grill in town.


W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones
Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod