STING LOW

According to this AP story, a woman here in the Valley was stung by a scorpion, went to Chandler Regional Medical Center, then found that her part of the bill was about $25,000—her insurer having paid about $57,000. The hospital charges $40,000 per dose for the anti-venom, but the woman says she was never told this in the ER. So…

Monster-of-the-Week: ..this week’s honoree is the title character of 1957’s The Black Scorpion…

…the largest and most badass of the many giant scorpions, creations of stop-motion great Willis O’Brien, in that film. Scary though the huge arachnid is, he’s probably less terrifying than the prospect of a trip to the hospital for a minor injury.