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As a lawyer for Medicare, I had a case where a lady had a pressure sore on her leg and when they unwrapped the dressings, 150 maggots fell out. So they cleaned her up, dressed the wound again, and about a week later, 30 or so more maggots. Then, she ended up at the hospital about a week or so later...you guessed it, more maggots. The nursing home presented several arguments in its defense: that the maggots could have hatched within 12 hours after a fly landed on her; that she must have gotten them when she went outside; that maggots only eat dead tissue so they were beneficial, etc. I jumped all over the last argument: the screw-fly maggot eats both live and dead tissue, so it's not beneficial...and, of course, where is the informed consent of the patient? Maggot therapy does exist, but they use (sexually) sterile and very clean maggots.
Sorry. Had to rant. Back to work now.
Harry
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