My family used superglue at home for cuts all the time.
Not really much worse than doctor stitches.
The difference between you and a doctor for little things like stitches that causes the $5k price tag is a couple of hours of study, credentialism, beurocracy and malpractice insurance. Only the couple of hours study is actually needed and you can do that yourself pretty easily with the internet.
I cut my index finger pretty bad, it must have been all the way through the skin as there was a big flap. It definitely needed stitches. I used superglue to hold it together until it stayed stuck on its own. I couldn’t use the finger for like a week because it was all bandaged up. Probably not as a good job as if I went to the doctor, but my finger didn’t fall off. HDHP turns you into a do-it-yourselfer.
My mother had a much more serious gash when she dropped a piece of glass on her foot. This was on Croatia. We went to the ER in the city, and she got stitches fairly quickly for like $20 cash. If I would have cut my finger in Croatia, I would have gone to ER to get stitches.
Had a coworker do this as well. Cut his finger, used superclue to hold it together. Turned out well, apparently.
With the Healthcare situation in the US, it's basically past the point of just saying "go to a doctor, don't diy." Now it's just better to give out accurate information for diy people to do it safely.
