Key West’s Hangover Hospital, which typically offers vitamin infusions to help cure the evils of the night before — or prevent them — is now offering free B12 shots to local health care and restaurant workers who are still working during the global health crisis.
Dr. Michael McGrath, known on the island as “Dr. Mike,” is the owner and medical director of Hangover Hospital. His team is setting up at local restaurants, where McGrath is donating $10,000 worth of B12 shots.
The B12 injection is much more effective than an oral vitamin supplement, McGrath said, because the injection does not pass through the liver, “which filters out 60 to 70% of anything taken orally,” he said.
But injected, Vitamin B12 “does about 160 different things,” he added. “We basically flood you with B12, which helps open up the body’s pathways to produce all the good hormones. It can really boost everything — and yes, it can help with hangovers.”
McGrath said the B12 shot can help people feel more energized without an over-caffeinated feeling. The effects can last from three days to three weeks.
“It’s been amazing to see how this community is coming together,” McGrath told Keys Weekly on March 27 when his crew was set up in front of Ocean Grill restaurant in the Duval Square plaza. “I was so impressed by the places and the employers working so hard to keep their staff working, I wanted to do something to help. And with people working crazy hours, and being stressed about whether their job will continue or whether they’ll get sick, I thought this would be a good way to give back to the community that’s supported us for the past five years.”
Hangover Hospital, in addition to hangover remedies, also offers wellness infusions and conducts house calls at local hotels.
The team takes everyone’s temperature and offers a basic health screening before a registered nurse administers the pain-free shot.
“That’s it? I didn’t feel a thing,” one recipient said. (This reporter also can attest to the pain-free claim.)
“We buffer the B12 injection and manipulate the Ph level so there’s no sting at all when it’s injected,” McGrath told Keys Weekly on Friday afternoon.
McGrath urged business owners who would like his team to set up in front of their establishment to email him at info@hangoverkw.com.
