A child needed antivenom for a snakebite. It cost more than $200,000.

A few days after his 2nd birthday, Brigland Pfeffer was playing with his siblings in their San Diego backyard.

His mother, Lindsay Pfeffer, was a few feet away when Brigland made a noise and came running from the stone firepit, holding his right hand. She noticed a pinprick of blood between his thumb and forefinger when her older son called out, “Snake!”

When they arrived, Brigland’s hand was swollen and purple.

Antivenom, an antibody therapy that disables certain toxins, is usually administered from an intravenous line directly into the bloodstream. But emergency room staffers struggled to insert the IV.

After many tries, they finally used a procedure that delivers medicine into the bone marrow, giving Brigland a starting dose of the antivenom Anavip.

He was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Rady Children’s Hospital, where he received more Anavip.

The swelling that had spread to his armpit slowly decreased. A couple of days later, he left the hospital with his grateful parents.

Then the bills came.

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The final bill

It was $297,461, which included two ambulance rides, an emergency room visit and a couple of days in pediatric intensive care. Antivenom alone accounts for $213,278.80 of the total bill.