Man Without Detectable Fingerprints Held at Airport

2009-05-28 14:35:14 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Health & Fitness, News)

A man was detained at an airport after his finderprints could not be detected

A man whose fingerprints could not be detected was detained at an airport for hours.

Wired PR News – A cancer patient from Singapore was detained at an airport in the U.S. after his fingerprints could not be detected. As reported by Reuters, United States immigration officials detained the 62 year old for four hours after discovering his fingerprints had seemed to vanish. The man was taking the medication, capecitabine, which can have that effect on patients because it causes the chronic inflammation of areas on the hands and feet, also referred to as hand-foot syndrome.

The patient’s doctor and a consultant for Singapore’s National Cancer Center Tan Eng Huat is quoted in the report as stating of the syndrome, “This can give rise to eradication of fingerprints with time.” Tan is further quoted as stating, “Theoretically, if you stop the drug, it will grow back but details are scanty. No one knows the frequency of this occurrence among patients taking this drug and nobody knows how long a person must be on this drug before the loss of fingerprints.”

As noted in the report, the case was listed in the Annals of Oncology.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia User Katpatuka