stuart in mn
stuart in mn Dork
12/24/08 10:59 a.m.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfuel.html

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
neon4891 SuperDork
12/24/08 12:18 p.m.

WTF,

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
12/24/08 12:21 p.m.

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

rob_lewis
rob_lewis Dork
12/24/08 1:29 p.m.

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
914Driver Dork
12/24/08 1:39 p.m.

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

Tommy Suddard
Tommy Suddard
12/24/08 2:09 p.m.

Reminds me of the movie Motel Hell.

Lesley
Lesley SuperDork
12/24/08 2:37 p.m.

berkeleying EW!

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo HalfDork
12/24/08 2:47 p.m.

Reminds me of Fight Club.

SkinnyG
SkinnyG New Reader
12/24/08 3:33 p.m.

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

PHeller
PHeller Reader
12/24/08 4:03 p.m.

haha

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

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

amaff
amaff HalfDork
12/24/08 4:20 p.m.

Soilent green is my kinda people!!

noisycricket
noisycricket Reader
12/24/08 4:24 p.m.

We were selling their own fat asses back to them.

cwh
cwh Dork
12/24/08 4:57 p.m.

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

Goldmember
Goldmember New Reader
12/24/08 5:07 p.m.

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
noisycricket Reader
12/24/08 5:28 p.m.

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

aussiesmg
aussiesmg HalfDork
12/24/08 6:25 p.m.
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
Tommy Suddard
12/24/08 9:33 p.m.
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
fastEddie Dork
12/24/08 10:05 p.m.

Navi - no. Excursion - yes.

amaff
amaff HalfDork
12/24/08 11:05 p.m.
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
Goldmember New Reader
12/24/08 11:35 p.m.

"Its made of PEOPLE!!!!"

mel_horn
mel_horn HalfDork
12/25/08 11:43 a.m.
stuart in mn wrote: http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfuel.html 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
aussiesmg HalfDork
12/25/08 1:08 p.m.

Steven King?

slantvaliant
slantvaliant Reader
12/26/08 9:12 a.m.

It goes with his Fat Powered Boat

amaff
amaff HalfDork
12/26/08 10:11 a.m.

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

curtis73
curtis73 Reader
12/26/08 12:28 p.m.

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

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