Pharmacy Daily | Dispensary Corner 07 Aug 25

A MASSACHUSETTS woman has been left facing huge rabies vaccination bills after part of a wild bat ended up in her mouth.

Erica Kahn was photographing the night sky during a holiday in Arizona when a bat got itself tangled between her camera straps and her face.

Kahn naturally screamed, leading to part of the bat's wing entering her mouth for a brief moment before untangling itself and flying away.

Acting on family advice, Kahn began a course of four rabies vaccinations over 14 days which concluded at her local hospital once she had returned home.

She also received three shots of immunoglobulin to give her antibodies a further boost.

While Kahn bought health insurance before beginning the treatment, she failed to read the fine print which stipulated a waiting period before cover would begin.

As a result, her insurer refused to pay and bills from multiple hospitals and clinics came in, totalling a whopping US$20,749.

Kahn is now navigating a complex web of appeals processes and fine print perusal to explore her options, but in the meantime, has begun a number of repayment plans to slowly cover her debts.

Since then, a Wyoming-based travel medicine specialist said Kahn made the right choice by seeking treatment quickly, as healthy bats don't normally fly into people, meaning the one that impacted Kahn was likely sick - possibly with rabies.