Woman Swallows Tapeworm She Bought On The Internet To Lose Weight

If you think juice cleanses are extreme, check out this misguided diet. An Iowa woman recently told her doctor that she bought a tapeworm on the Internet and ingested it in an attempt to lose weight...


 The doctor was apparently so stumped by the patient's bad decision that he had to call the state health department for guidance.

The agency told the doctor to have his patient de-wormed by way of some special medication that kills the parasite. Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director at the Iowa Department of Public Health, recounted the incident in an e-mail to public-health workers Thursday.