Teen Licks Medical Equipment at Doctor's Office and Her Mom Gets Arrested

This new trend of people licking things that other people could potentially use and then putting them back as if nothing happened is so gross and weird. First, it was the woman in the grocery store licking the top of an otherwise perfectly new container of Blue Bell ice cream. She has now been found by the police and may face charges. 

The latest licking incident is maybe even worse than the ice cream story. A video circulated online showing a teenage girl licking a piece of medical equipment in a doctor's office in Florida (of course, it's always Florida). The video has led to her mother's arrest. 

In the video, the girl licks one tongue depressor, you know, those things that the doctor sticks in your mouth to check the health of your throat. She then put it back in a jar with all the others. I'm not kidding when I tell you my whole body just shuddered at the mere thought of this.  

The girl's face is blurred and unidentifiable, but in the background, you can see a sign that reads, "Please do not touch medical supplies! Thank you." The video, according to Insider, is captioned with: "Don't tell me how to live my life."  

According to Action News Jackson, the girl's mom, Cori Ward, was the one to originally post the video on Snapchat, which presumably means she supported her daughter's gross and unacceptable behavior. 

She probably didn't realize someone else would post the video on Facebook, where it would spread like wildfire.

It hasn't occurred to me before now how easy it would be for someone to do that, to lick a tongue depressor or a container of ice cream. I thought there was an implicit social contract that prevented this. And there is! Most reasonable people understand that you simply don't do that. It's gross, and it's potentially harmful to others. 

"Ward told Action News Jackson that she "wasn't thinking" when she recorded the video and has since received death threats," according to Insider. Although I don't ever really think death threats are appropriate, I'm not surprised that she received the amount of backlash she did.  

Ward claimed that she removed not only the licked tongue depressor but also the "items even surrounding it" after she stopped filming, which could be true or a straight-up lie. Either way, it doesn't excuse what they did. 

Luckily, the office at which the incident occurred was identified as All About Kids and Families Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida. 

The facility provided a statement after learning about the incident: "We were notified yesterday that a patient had violated our trust with behavior that is inconsistent with the practices and standards that we uphold and expect at our facility. Upon notification of this isolated incident, we contacted law enforcement to request a full and thorough investigation.  

"In addition, we immediately removed all materials and container from the specific exam room and re-sanitized our entire facility. Our internal investigation does not reveal any resulting risks or harm to patients from this action." 

I wouldn't be surprised if doctor's offices around the country start locking up their tongue depressors and all other medical supplies in each room. Honestly, it's a little surprising that they don't already.  

As for Ward? Well, she has been arrested and booked on charges of tampering with a consumer product without regard for possible death or bodily injury. I didn't even know that's something you could be charged for. I'm glad it is, though, because incidents like this are happening with increasing frequency. And one of these days, one of them is going to have a catastrophic consequence.