'It's absolute anarchy': Oxygen therapy chambers have led to horrific deaths. Why are Maha elite raving about them?

[erronis]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/04/oxygen-chamber-maha

‘It’s absolute anarchy’: Oxygen therapy chambers have led to horrific deaths. Why are Maha elite raving about them?

Touted as a cure for everything from wrinkles to autism, the treatment has been hyped by Robert F Kennedy Jr and various celebrities. Experts say it needs to be regulated

Warning: this article contains distressing content

It was the kind of cold, damp morning that makes it hard to get out of bed, much less get a child out the door. The sun had not even risen when five-year-old Thomas Cooper and his mother, Annie Cooper, arrived for an appointment on 31 January at the Oxford Center in Troy, a northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

Thomas was an exuberant child with a button nose and pinchable cheeks – a little kid who loved running fast, playing Minecraft and watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, according to a GoFundMe set up by his family. He had just received money in a special red envelope for lunar new year, and he planned to spend it later that day with his little brother. But first, he was going to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and sleep apnea.

That morning, Thomas got into a tubular metal and clear plastic chamber, which was sealed, pressurized and filled with 100% oxygen. Then, according to an expert who viewed video of the incident, Thomas squirmed enough to pull the sheet off the mattress, causing a spark of static electricity. In the oxygen-rich environment, that spark became a flash fire that incinerated Thomas within seconds. Annie, desperately trying to open the tank, got badly burned on her arms and chest. When firefighters arrived just before 8am, all they could do was put out the flames.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) – breathing concentrated oxygen in a highly pressurized enclosure – is prescribed by doctors for a handful of conditions such as severe burns, non-healing wounds or radiation injury. When it is provided by trained and licensed physicians and nurses in medical facilities using equipment that meets FDA regulations and is properly maintained, it is safe and effective.

. . .

[marble falls]

1. The uneducated leading the gullible into danger. Bad combo.

[milestogo]

2. Some athletes use them.

They are expensive - elite athletes can afford to have them at home. Doctor not included.

[rampartd]

3. got hyperbaric treatments when my toe was amputated

it is expensive, time consuming (it is an every day job for six weeks.) and incredibly annoying but

i helped heal my foot
i did not need glasses for months
and generally felt great.

[dameatball]

8. That's interesting about the glasses.

[John1956PA]

4. Oxygen overload can cause death.

In David Lynch's movie "Blue Velvet," the psycho huffs pure oxygen. When I think of that character, I am reminded of RFK, Jr.

[mr715]

14. I think he was huffing argon, or some other inert gas. nt

[John1956PA]

16. Oh, thanks. I saw the nasal-oral mask and made the wrong assumption.

[mr715]

19. It is a Lynch film

Oxygen would've made too much sense.

[mr715]

22. I stand corrected

It was apparently supposed to by amyl nitrite AKA poppers

[hlthe2b]

5. Can you imagine watching your child be burned alive--immolated in a flash? OMG

Honestly, how can even those who never got past high school biology/chemistry not realize the risk--especially for a child in these devices--much less anyone else? These aren't the hyperbaric chamber 'ROOMs" that are depicted for divers and others, but basically tombs. Hell, I could not even stand a tanning bed--too claustrophobic, but I damned well know how flammable pure oxygen is. Damn!

And, no, I'm not saying hyperbaric oxygen does not have a multitude of valid uses--in fact, more than we are doing now because of cost. Take the cancer patient with unhealed, horrific skin lesions post-radiation. This would be incredibly useful, but rarely used because of availability and cost.

But a child that is awake and with questionable indications? Good gawd.

[Kid Berwyn]

6. Money

Big profit in big, ah, cures.

[cstanleytech]

7. Meanwhile Congress thinks that Hemp is a more important issue.

[AverageOldGuy]

9. Hmmmm . . .

Suppose we could convince RFK Jr. to demonstrate?

[Attilatheblond]

10. it sure didn't help him banish wrinkles

[erronis]

11. Suggest he take some weed in with him to improve the effect.

[canetoad]

17. Towards the end

Of the Guardian article, RFK Jr insists that HBOT machines are TOO regulated in the US.

[IcyPeas]

12. Oh geez

I remember hearing that Michael Jackson had one in his house that he used after he got burned doing a tv commercial.

I've only heard of burn victims using it. Kind of ironic in a very sad way.

[Retrograde]

13. Apollo 1

Apollo 1 was going to be the first test mission for the manned moon flight. NASA was testing it at Cape Kennedy (IIRC). The capsule used a pure oxygen environment. A loose wire sparked, and the oxygen in the capsule fed the flames as the three people in the capsule were burned to death. After that, NASA stopped using pure oxygen environments, and spent a few years revamping the space program.

Wonderful -but destructive - stuff, oxygen.

[erronis]

15. Thanks for that very unhappy reminder. Odd they didn't test for that situation before.

I don't remember what was the flammable substance that caused there to be an active fire. Oxygen by itself doesn't burn but supplies the oxygenating agent to a flammable substance. I'm guessing the wires that caused the spark were not flammable and I would hope that the insulation itself wasn't. There must have been something proximate to the spark to ignite.

[electric_blue68]

20. Ohhh, I remember that but not why it happened.

[canetoad]

18. Thanks for a very interesting article

It really emphasizes the differences between legitimate medical use and the proliferation of 'wellness' establishments offering the therapy with no oversight of safety.

[electric_blue68]

21. Geeebbzzzz, how horrific!