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  • stuart in mn

    Dec. 24, 2008 10:59 a.m. stuart in mn Dork

    http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfu...

    Liposuctioning unwanted blubber out of pampered Los Angelenos may not seem like a dream job, but it has its perks. Free fuel is one of them.

    For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator. Using fat to fuel cars might be environmentally friendly, but it's definitely illegal in California to use human medical waste to power vehicles, and Bittner is being investigated by the state's public health department. Although it's unclear when Bittner started and stopped making fat fuel or how he made it, his activities came to light after recent lawsuits filed by patients that allege he allowed his assistant and his girlfriend to perform surgeries without a medical license.

    Attorney Andrew Besser, who represents three patients, says the assistant and girlfriend removed too much fat from clients and left them disfigured. Dozens of other patients have complained to the state medical board, Besser says. The board is investigating Bittner but declined to comment. The investigations, however, might go nowhere: Bittner closed his practice, Beverly Hills Liposculpture, in November and moved to South America to do volunteer work at a clinic, according to a note on his Web site. Besser says Bittner likely fled the country because of the investigations. Bittner's lawyer didn't return calls seeking comment.

  • neon4891

    Dec. 24, 2008 12:18 p.m. neon4891 SuperDork

    WTF,

  • Jensenman

    Dec. 24, 2008 12:21 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork

    Crap, I didn't think gas prices had gotten THAT high.

  • rob_lewis

    Dec. 24, 2008 1:29 p.m. rob_lewis Dork

    I guess he was just burning the fat that his clients couldn't!!

    That's folks. I'll be here through the holiday season, please make sure to tip your waitress!!

    -Rob

  • 914Driver

    Dec. 24, 2008 1:39 p.m. 914Driver Dork

    So if used Mickey D oil smells like french fries, does this smell like Glouster at low tide?

  • Tommy Suddard

    Dec. 24, 2008 2:09 p.m. Tommy Suddard

    Reminds me of the movie Motel Hell.

  • Lesley

    Dec. 24, 2008 2:37 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

    berkeleying EW!

  • EastCoastMojo

    Dec. 24, 2008 2:47 p.m. EastCoastMojo HalfDork

    Reminds me of Fight Club.

  • SkinnyG

    Dec. 24, 2008 3:33 p.m. SkinnyG New Reader

    People Power? This just seems really creepy. "You'd make a good tank of gas..." Aieeeee.

  • PHeller

    Dec. 24, 2008 4:03 p.m. PHeller Reader

    haha

    "can I get discount since your filling your tank?"

    "His patients responded "he gave the best deal in town!"

  • amaff

    Dec. 24, 2008 4:20 p.m. amaff HalfDork

    Soilent green is my kinda people!!

  • noisycricket

    Dec. 24, 2008 4:24 p.m. noisycricket Reader

    We were selling their own fat asses back to them.

  • cwh

    Dec. 24, 2008 4:57 p.m. cwh Dork

    I wonder if he gave a discount if he got a large collection out of your ass.

  • Goldmember

    Dec. 24, 2008 5:07 p.m. Goldmember New Reader

    Easily in the top 5 coolest stories I've heard/read this year.

    Using the fat from the rich/affluent to power your Navigator?Now That is Grassroots!!

    914Driver wrote:

    So if used Mickey D oil smells like french fries, does this smell like Glouster at low tide?

    This thought, however,is rather unpleasant.

  • noisycricket

    Dec. 24, 2008 5:28 p.m. noisycricket Reader

    Wait, I call shenanigans. Did they MAKE a Diesel powered Navigator?

  • aussiesmg

    Dec. 24, 2008 6:25 p.m. aussiesmg HalfDork

    amaff wrote:

    Soilent green is my kinda people!!

    Only in this forum would people know what that is...

    I have some high octane fat available right now....mmmmmm Bordeaux

  • Tommy Suddard

    Dec. 24, 2008 9:33 p.m. Tommy Suddard

    noisycricket wrote:

    Wait, I call shenanigans. Did they MAKE a Diesel powered Navigator?

    I wondered about that too. After googling, it doesn't appear that they did.

  • fastEddie

    Dec. 24, 2008 10:05 p.m. fastEddie Dork

    Navi - no. Excursion - yes.

  • amaff

    Dec. 24, 2008 11:05 p.m. amaff HalfDork

    aussiesmg wrote:

    amaff wrote:

    Soilent green is my kinda people!!

    Only in this forum would people know what that is...

    lol at least someone else came with me on that

  • Goldmember

    Dec. 24, 2008 11:35 p.m. Goldmember New Reader

    "Its made of PEOPLE!!!!"

  • mel_horn

    Dec. 25, 2008 11:43 a.m. mel_horn HalfDork

    stuart in mn wrote:

    http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfu...

    Using fat to fuel cars might be environmentally friendly, but it's definitely illegal in California to use human medical waste to power vehicles, and Bittner is being investigated by the state's public health department.

    OK, THIS tells me that it's been tried before!

    Wonder who sponsored THAT bill?!

  • aussiesmg

    Dec. 25, 2008 1:08 p.m. aussiesmg HalfDork

    Steven King?

  • slantvaliant

    Dec. 26, 2008 9:12 a.m. slantvaliant Reader

    It goes with his Fat Powered Boat

  • amaff

    Dec. 26, 2008 10:11 a.m. amaff HalfDork

    That's kinda cool... and yet still kinda weird at the same time

  • curtis73

    Dec. 26, 2008 12:28 p.m. curtis73 Reader

    They found out what the doctor was doing when the Powerstroke had to be treated for Hepatitis.

 
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