After budget cuts, Indiana baby denied life-saving treatment

I think a couple of things need to be mentioned in respect to this thread and one being it was MDwise that determined the procedure did not qualify under state law deeming the operation experimental thus denied the family's request but for reasons that is anyones guess chose to cover the cost in the end and for any number of reasons, one being and what we would like to believe is MDwise doing the right thing or perhaps just giving in to prevent the parents from suing them challeging them in court defining the procedure as in legal terms experimental and winning.

Some of it may be medicine too - see the thymus regulates the immune system, working with the adrenals.
Ok, so you are going to put a new thymus in a body that hasn't had one - you've got to worry about tissue rejection and all kinds of weird immune things.

A lot of drugs to treat immune disorders are really expensive. United denied me cephlosporin because of the cost, even though the doc said it usually cured people (autoimmunity to my blood). We went through appeal and appeal but they would not approve it. It was going to be about 1,200/month for a few months. IN addition there's a lot of extra medical monitoring when you are on it, b/p checks, blood checks, ect. They just flat said NO.

But anyway, I doubt it is all doctor's fees - I bet a LOT of it is also medicine to regulate that immune system and a lot of diagnostics during that time until the child stabilizes.

Of course, we have a situation in the US where the doctors have stock in the diagnostic labs and the pharmaceutical companies. We have a LOT more conflict of interest problems when it comes to keeping costs down than anyone wants to address.

Don't blame the surgeon ?

IF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ME, I WOULD BLAME THE HOSPITALS ENTIRE STAFF OF SURGEONS !

Along with the rest of the major money making, >OATH TAKING< members of that hospitals
staff---> PERIOD !

They couldn't have possibly "WROTE IT OFF ?"

What if what came through for that child---> DIDN'T ? What if that child was yours ?

Maybe that childs family should have thrown a few spaghetti dinners or something at their local "AMERICAN LEGION" hall at X amount of money per. head, and paid for it all that way ?

"HONESTLY"

IN OTHER WORDS----> There are plenty more doctors "WITH BOARDERS", than there are ones "WITHOUT".
Poor is "POOR", regardless of what country your in.

There is a problem in the fact that these defects are occuring at an increasing rate.
The cure is not more money being given to care for such individuals.
The Cure is to eliminate alll the POISONS from our food and immediate environment.

One thousand new chemicals are added to our “diet” yearly
There are more than 700 synthetic chemicals in our bodies
One hundred thousand man-made chemicals exist in our environment
The food industry purposely strips out essential nutrients from our food
The known side effects of drugs are often worse than the disease they are meant to treat
Our immune and reproductive systems are so compromised that disease, birth anomalies and species mutations are rampant!
www.truthpublishing.com...

There used to be about 30 pages of excerpts from this book on line....but no more.
It shows the progression of disease incidents relative to the increasing amount of chemicals in our food and environment.

reply to post by laughsalot


The legal ramifications is something that had not been brought up here before.

$500,000 could possibly be pocket change compared to any civil ruling that might have been granted the parents should the situation not have changed.

But there should never be a price tag placed on a child;s life.
Ever.

reply to post by zcflint05


That baby is not getting care BECAUSE of free health care, or don't you get it? Are you really that brainwashed? They are covered by medicaire, which is a government handout. That's the kind of coverage government controlled insurance gives you! Did you miss that little detail, or did your liberal brainwashing kick in just in time to erase the facts from your consciousness?

This is the classic situation of rationing care. It is axiomatic that in every socialist system, the service that is provided has to be rationed because of government incompetence, due to lack of real market forces. It's just too bad that demagogues, socialists and moral degenerates are in charge of your mental programming. You are completely unable to make rational and informed decisions. I recommend you recuse yourself from voting for the good of the rest of humanity.

Originally posted by SevenThunders
reply to post by zcflint05

 

That baby is not getting care BECAUSE of free health care, or don't you get it? Are you really that brainwashed?

Actually as stated previously in this thread, the situation has changed and the child will be receiving the treatment. Being brainwashed has nothing to do with that. In fact that style of argument can go both directions, which should always be avoided.

The child, to state again. will be receiving treatment and stands to fight for survival now.

Originally posted by alpha68
Don't blame the surgeon ?

IF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ME, I WOULD BLAME THE HOSPITALS ENTIRE STAFF OF SURGEONS !

Along with the rest of the major money making, >OATH TAKING< members of that hospitals
staff---> PERIOD !

They couldn't have possibly "WROTE IT OFF ?"

What if what came through for that child---> DIDN'T ?

What if that child was yours ?

Maybe that childs family should have thrown a few spaghetti dinners or something at their local "AMERICAN LEGION" hall at X amount of money per. head, and paid for it all that way ?

"HONESTLY"

IN OTHER WORDS----> There are plenty more doctors "WITH BOARDERS", than there are ones "WITHOUT".
Poor is "POOR", regardless of what country your in.

edit on 11-12-2010 by alpha68 because: (no reason given)

Even if the surgeon had "written off" his/her fees and the fees of the entire staff, you would still be left with about $400,000 of peri-operative care, medication, and rehabilitative follow-ups.

If the parents would have denounced their citizenship they could have gone to the Emergency Room and under the EMTALA Act that congress passed.....

All illegal immigrants get 100% free healthcare. IF they would have denounced their citizenship their child would still be alive.

Hmmm...Social Security when I get old or kid still alive.......tough choice to make I guess.

Originally posted by Pervius
If the parents would have denounced their citizenship they could have gone to the Emergency Room and under the EMTALA Act that congress passed.....

All illegal immigrants get 100% free healthcare. IF they would have denounced their citizenship their child would still be alive.

Hmmm...Social Security when I get old or kid still alive.......tough choice to make I guess.

There is just so much false information in this post, it's unbelievable.

The EMTALA act, like federal laws before it, only requires stabilization of emergency-level, life-threatening situations. It does not, under any circumstances, cover organ transplants, rehabilitative care, pre- and post-operative care, medications, or anything related to this case.

Originally posted by bismos
the parents should be the ones to pay not the government. everybody wants a hand out but no one wants to pay taxes. we shoul;dnt even have welfare. if you cant support yourself die or live in the streets. ive been broke ass poor and homeless before and ive built myself back up. welfare is a burden on everyone except the people leaching off it.

Getting hitched with someone Filthy ass rich doesn't count as "Building yourself back up"

Would not saving the baby be a matter of security? The baby is an american citizen, and it's life is being threatened... So it seems to me DHS needs to step in and make these doctors do the surgery... or does the security thing only apply when the result of the act will allow new laws to be created that strip freedoms..?

reply to post by VneZonyDostupa


Sure, I know.
Thats when the more than already established surgeons and anesthesiologists (FOR EXAMPLE) on that hospitals staff (OR ANY OTHER, FOR THAT MATTER.) need to step in and help people in that type of situation.
Don't forget that established doctors know other established doctors, combined, they would never even miss that money. I'm not talking about anyone in your positon, I only mean the established doctors who have been clocking crazy checks for close to, or over a decade. (THE NEVER NEEDED A LOAN, OR THE LOANS PAID OFF "MOONS AGO" TYPES.)
People at the high dollar end of the medical profession could easily ralley other doctors, friends, and neighbors in most cases.

("EVER MET A SURGEON THAT LIVES IN A TRAILER PARK ? I CAN'T SAY THAT I EVER HAVE !" )

Originally posted by aching_knuckles

Uhh....how do you figure that?

Figure what? That the prices are resulting from extortion by both doctors and insurance companies?

Did the government decide what this operation was supposed to cost? If not, who did? THAT person is the one that should be held personally liable for this.

Yes, they did. That's the entire point of government regulations. That's why I'm a libertarian. The government needs to the the market work.

More likely, the doctor decided his own payrate, figuring medicare would just pay him whatever. Its like winning the lottery every day if they pay, and you lose nothing if they dont, because hey, you are already a rich doctor.

That statement I agree with. If there was no medicare, no medicaid, and no government regulation in favor of corrupt insurance companies and big pharma companies, prices would drop dramatically. Doctor's wouldn't be able to ream the tax payer.

And on top of that, he will get to keep his Bush tax cuts. Awesome, way to go America.

Most doctor's don't make over $250k/yr (the pivot point that is dragging the current bill through the house). As a side note, the Bush tax cuts (while they did help out the rich substantially) helped the middle class. My taxes went from 28% to 25%. Now, as a libertarian, I don't believe in income tax, so I wish it was 0%, but I'll take whatever cut I can get. After all, I don't use 1/100th of the crap they spend MY money on.

reply to post by youdidntseeme


I went into attack mode because of this quote from zcflint,

People like you deserve to get sick without insurance, then maybe you can feel a little bit of the pain that those parents and that child have to go through every day because of the greed of US health insurers and the tea party right

zcflint is attempting to place a curse on me and is attempting to blame the "tea party right", for this mess, when in fact it is a classic example of what happens when government "socializes" any service or product that can be otherwise serviced in the private sector.

In fact prior to government meddling most people could pay for their health care needs out of pocket, but that is another story. So the issue is a classic case of blame shifting. Blame the people who are trying to solve the problem, rather than blame the leftists who created the problem. The issue goes deeper of course. Universal health care is a proven method of bankrupting welfare states. It's a guaranteed pay out for the banksters in charge.

Just an update. I went and donated $ to the Seth Benjamin fund for this boy's treatment. Indiana did exactly what the doctor said other state medicaid programs had done. On review, the treatment was approved. Funds donated are going to another family trying to fund an experimental procedure. I received this email update this morning.

I would like to thank you so much for the contribution on behalf of my son. The state has overturned their decision, so my son is no longer in direct need of these funds.

However, as stated on the website, we have set up a foundation which will be used for other families and for a thymus fund for Dr Louise Markert to assist in making this procedure approved.

We have another family that we are working with right now who has a 15 year old son and is in need of Proton radiation therapy and the insurance has denied because it is experimental. It is a similar situation to ours. We are waiting for further investigation and for the final appeal decision before we make the contribution from the foundation. The family is in need of over $100,000.00 and we are looking to help. Again, thank you for your contribution to the Seth Benjamin Foundation.

Feel free to contact me back should you have any questions.
Tim Petreikis

reply to post by Mountainmeg


Star for you for being part of the solution here.

Although your actions may not act in fixing any current problems wirth the law or legal aspects of medicine, you certainly did show some selflessness and caring for the well being of another human being.

Applause by me!

If this is true,I hope those doctors think about the place reserved for them in hell. While they drive their lambo.

Originally posted by whipsandchainsamerica
If this is true,I hope those doctors think about the place reserved for them in hell. While they drive their lambo.

Well there was an update to this thread a little more than a day into it.
In case you didnt read the entire thread, a third party insurance company stepped in and agreed to pay for the little guys procedure.

I had asked the mods to update the title, but i guess it got overlooked.