Man stopped at airport for having no fingerprints

Posted by Queuebot in Odd News on June 2, 2009 at 11:05 am


A 62 year old man from Singapore was detained last year for an unusual condition: he had no fingerprints.  The man was taking the drug Xeloda for head and neck cancer.  Upon arriving at the airport, he was held for four hours from being unable to produce a fingerprint.

Capecitabine is a common cancer drug, routinely given to patients with head, neck and kidney cancers as well as lymphomas and leukemias. Doctors said very few patients temporarily lose their fingerprints while on Xeloda, but it does happen.

“Most patients will complain they’re having difficulty holding things or sensing things,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who was not linked to the case. “I’ve never had a patient running into a problem with police authorities, but this is not an exaggeration. It could actually happen.”

Unlike most other countries, American immigration officials take two fingerprints from foreign visitors.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.


Previous post
this post? Please Email this               
Next post

Tags:


FUN PRODUCTS FROM THE NEATORAMA SHOP:


COMMENT

9 comments to "Man stopped at airport for having no fingerprints"

  1. Gail Pink
    June 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    Why in the world was he asked to PRODUCE A FINGERPRINT to get on an airplane?

  2. Skipweasel
    June 2nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    I unloaded 40,000 bricks by hand once. No tangible fingerprints for a fortnight or so, but interestingly I did still leave a print from the sebaceous glands which were still there and while follow the patterns of the (missing) prints.

  3. JH's corpse
    June 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    Man, going into the US you have to give everything but a urine test. this guy shouldn't have had to give his fingerprints in the first place.

    All people coming in should not be guilty til proven innocent. I feel like this is such a violation of rights.

  4. Roberts
    June 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 am

    I remember there's a Dilbert comic where Wally's anscestors bred so that they would produce offspring with no biometric evidence like fingerprints.

  5. Ajan
    June 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am

    Wow, everyone has to undergo through this in US?

  6. jermH
    June 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    On a blog (like it is here), this is interesting. When it's reported all over the major news channels (like it has been the past week or so), one starts to wonder how such a near-inconsequential story gets picked up.

  7. markduffy
    June 3rd, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    This happened to Mother last year when we were flying in to Newark. She had just finished treatment for breast cancer and her fingerprints didn't match up to homeland security records. She was detained for several hours, but was eventually allowed to proceed after one of the officers on duty said his wife had had the same thing happen to her

  8. Willko5
    June 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    When I used to climb 5 days a week, I lost my fingerprints altogether. I always thought it would've been a good time to commit some crime. (Of course, I guess I could just wear gloves for the same effect.)

  9. Deanie
    June 3rd, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    I hope they don't do this to citizens of the US. I work with a law enforcement agency and I do not take this drug, but I do not have fingerprints. They can get 2 or 3 partials with the laser fingerprint machines, but they don't get even that much with ink. It is a natural condition.


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS