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Shady Plastic Surgeon May Have Used Human Fat to Power SUV

by Dan Reilly on December 23, 2008 at 06:42 PM

Remember that scene in 'Fight Club' when Brad Pitt and Ed Norton are stealing bags of human fat from a plastic surgeon? Well, an article from Forbes.com says that a shady Beverly Hills plastic surgeon was doing the same thing, only he was using the flab for fuel, not explosives.

Lawsuits against Dr. Craig Alan Bittner uncovered the claims that he was turning the medical waste into biodiesel to power his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator. Although there's no mention of how Bittner did it, the triglycerides in the different types of fat, including human, can be turned into diesel fuel. A gallon of the stuff can be turned into the same amount of gas, which is why many companies are working to utilized the process to offset transportation costs and help the environment.

Bittner wrote on his now extinct Web site, lipodiesel.com, "The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel--and I have more fat than I can use. Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth." While it sounds like innovation, it's actually a crime -- Bittner is being investigated by California's public health department for using the medical waste, which is illegal.

Wired sheds even more light on the inconsistencies in Bittner's story, including the fact that his girlfriend's Lincoln doesn't run on diesel, so the process wouldn't work. What's scariest is that the supposedly green doctor is hiding in South America while he's being sued for letting his girlfriend and assistant perform unlicensed surgeries that left at least three patients disfigured. Gross! [Source: Forbes and Wired]

Tags: crime, health, medicine, top, weird

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