Dr. Mark Thomas, a surgeon with The Oregon Clinic General Surgery & Burn Specialists was recently featured in a sobering story in Willamette Week about the growing trend of patients who present with distinctive, severe burns caused by a lockable butane torch.
Small butane torches are popular tools for people who smoke drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine. These torches burn hotter than a standard lighter and can be locked on so the flame keeps going without anyone holding the trigger. When someone smokes fentanyl and loses consciousness, a locked torch can keep burning in place, often on a hand or lower leg, and melt through skin down to tendon and bone.
Burns from locked torches are not minor injuries. They often require multiple surgeries and long hospital stays. For people who are already dealing with homelessness, mental health challenges, and addiction, a severe burn can make recovery feel nearly impossible.
In the article Dr. Thomas said, “It’s so hard, they already had a bunch of issues before. Now it’s like, ‘Well, now you’re missing an arm.’ How are you going to recover now?”
Dr. Thomas is advocating for straightforward changes: removing the locking mechanism from butane torches and making the devices harder to access. He believes those two steps alone could prevent many of the worst injuries he sees.
Read the story here:
Drug Users Are Getting Hospitalized With Deep, Horrific Burns. Portland Doctors Think They Know Why.