In the News - Another Death Blamed on Tattoo

A California man is dead after suffering a major infection of the heart and lungs. What is being blamed as the cause of his death? His most recent tattoo - which he received somewhere in Davis, CA, but the studio is unknown since he died before he could tell anyone.

Now, I am one of the first people that will admit that infection can occur when tattoos are performed under unhygienic circumstances. I will also say that I feel terrible for the ordeal this young man and his family have gone through, and I feel even more terrible if this death truly was linked to a tattoo. However, that being said, this young man was treading thin ice when he started and he knew it. He had a pre-existing heart condition so severe that he had to get a shot of antibiotics before he could even visit his dentist. He did not, however, even ask for such a shot before visiting his tattoo artist. Also, the news report says he got this tattoo to start off his summer vacation, so it was probably done several weeks before he died. Infection very well could have been introduced to the wound after he left the tattoo studio, if he was not caring for it properly.

I don't know the whole story, so I am not pointing fingers at anyone or anything specifically- my only point here is to bring possible alternatives to the attention of those reading this article and assuming that the tattoo itself, or the artist that gave it to him, are the only logical culprits, because they certainly are not. People need to stop looking for someone else to blame every time something like this happens. When a grown man (or woman) decides to ignore sensible precautions and put their life at risk, other parties who are not privy to the situation should not be held responsible.

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