The Latina who died in the ER, Edith Rodriguez, writhing in pain, on the floor of LA's King hospital blood, was not only killed by the heartless inaction of the doctors, nurses and staff on duty there.
An LA spokesman said that "even the janitors doing an elegant job of cleaning up the vomit did nothing to help her."
Rodriguez was also killed by America's failure to enact universal health care via single payer.
She would not have died in any of the first world countries that have universal health care.
Why are the lamestream media failing to recognize this?
One can only guess that she was turned away for one reason-- lack of insurance.
The news networks are playing the tapes of the 911 dispatchers rejecting calls for emergency help. They should be following up on the recordings with commentary on the failure of the health care system. Instead, they are reporting that ERs don't have enough money. Blame that on the health care system too. That's a health care system that starves the health care providers too.
A toxicologist on CNN comments, "The problem here is the bureaucracy and the administration may have prevented her from getting care.But also, if she'd have gotten help sooner, she would never have gotten to this point."
The CNN reporter, minimizing the issue, comments, "We could go and on about the insurance, and all of these things..."
You see, universal health care is not only not sexy, it's tied to Hillary and her failure to pass it back in the early nineties. Keep in mind that she failed because the for-profit health insurers spent millions running advertisements preying on citizen fears.
Edith Rodriguez is a highly visible case. But there are an estimated tens of thousands of people who die because they don't have health insurance. Compare that to the victims of 9-11 or the 3500 troops who were killed in Iraq. These victims were killed to-- by lobbyists, politicians and health insurance corporations. Where is the outcry. And for Edith Rodriguez, let's be sure that the right people and entities are accused.
A strong majority of Americans WANT universal, single payer health care.
Opponents cite how the Canadian health care system makes people wait. They don't mention that Canadians live three years longer. It's worth the wait. We need to put pressure on our legislators-- at state and national levels-- to pass laws making Universal health care happen now.
Legislators failure to respond to this desperate need, affecting close to 50 million Americans, are contributing to the problem, accessories to murder, in cases like Edith Rodriquez and the tens of thousands of others who die and the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions whose health is not what it could be if they had health care.
Yes, calling them accessories to murder is severe. If the shoe fits, wear it.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
To learn more about me and OpEdNews.com, check out this article.
and there are Rob's quotes, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived on www.whiterosesociety.org Or listen to it streaming, live at either www.wnjc1360.com or here.
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
thanks rob - single payer is long overdue for a multitude of reasons. but, as far as the opponent's claims that canadians have to wait longer than we do, i'm not even sure that's true.
i lived in canada for a year in the early 90's. i ended up having some health problems and while my husband was working there legally, neither of us were citizens yet i received prompt and comprehensive health care including all necessary tests and the physician of my choice. i also believe one of the key elements to my recuperation was not having the stress of a health care system that balks at every stage of the game. besides, who here in the u.s. hasn't tried to schedule an appt with a specialist at some point only to be told there's an opening in 3 months. it's time we get those opponents to put up or shutup regarding that overused argument - are there statistics that prove that i wonder?
SICKO June 29!
by
Cheryl Biren-Wright (19 articles, 23 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 351 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 9:28:34 AM
Whoever was the triage nurse on duty that day should be fired. Perhaps she or he already were fired? Anyway part of the explanation may lie in the fact that hispanics are known to be more hystrionic and vocal when ill so the triage nurse and/or any other staff who enteracted with this woman may have downplayed her illness based on that well known racial issue. That is, however, no excuse as any good triage nurse should have known that vomiting blood is a true emergency and the patient should have immediately been taken out of the waiting area, placed in a room on a cardiac monitor, had 2 large bore IV's started, and of course had labs drawn. So my guess is that ER was/is probably understaffed and they probably had a not-so-good nurse in triage that day which is one of the main reasons you never want a bad nurse in triage especially if you are a truly sick patient.
Lastly, I agree that universal health coverage is something we need but in publicly funded hospital ER's all patients get treated regardless of whether they have insurance or not and that is the REAL problem. To explain further, local doctor's offices in many instance make you pay prior to treatment so for those who are uninsured they instead have to go to the local ER for a NON-EMERGENCY problem. This leaves the ER's constantly overcrowded with NON-EMERGENCY patients detracting from the care the truly emergent patients need. So do we need universal health coverage? Yes absolutely because that will ease the overcrowding of all the nations ER's. Also I must mention the illegal alien invasion is playing a huge role in the overcrowding of the nation's ER's.
cya
Ben
by
BenMarbleMD (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 203 diaries, 297 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:08:03 AM
Since when is it a DYING PERSON'S responsibility...?
Let me get this straight:
It is the responsibility of a dying person, if i read this comment correctly, to be calm, rationally let the people that she encounters at the ER know that she is in critical condition, in Good English, and avoid appearing too Latino so as to not be mistaken for a stereotype that exists to some folks (cause I surely never heard of it) of a patient who is overreacting?
The luxuries and freedoms of america are so mind-boggling -- no wonder everyone is DYING to come here. The sign at the border should read:
"Remove All Evidence Of Latin Heritage or Enter At Your Own Risk. Send Thee, the Homeless Tempest-tossed, to Me."
P.S. Panic Attack patients regularly present with racing heartbeat, hyperventilation and the sure sense they are about to die. Is there a stereotype about THAT? Yet they get treated, and not by simply being ignored. I guess that stereotype reads that those patients generally have insurance.
by
Mars Caulton (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 82 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:33:24 AM
People glut the ER, massively raising costs and slowing service. I wonder how many billion a year we spend on ER visits that could be better spent on primary care provider preventive visits for people without health insurance.
And then there are all the people whose treatment was delayed because of glutted ERs. I wonder how many of those who die, even those with health insurance, are attributed to the root cause of absence of universal health insurance. A lot, I bet.
by
Rob Kall (808 articles, 3921 quicklinks, 332 diaries, 1703 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:35:52 AM
A thorough investigation must be made of this tragic affair and if misfeasance is proven then criminal charges should be laid. If there is in fact a duty of care owing from a hospital to a patient or person in physical distress then this hospital is guilty of negligence at the least and potentially manslaughter.
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1130 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:09:38 AM
I wonder about all the professional doctors and or nurses that stepped over this patient . I am a former RN and I could never ignore a bleeding patient. Race or ethnicity can never be an issue in patient care or even lack of insurance. I left nursing some years ago when I realized the patient charge slips where more important the actual patient care.The nursing supervisors were always on my case about filling out charge slips and never about patient care or needs. After 35 years caring for and about patients the system burned me out. This is not the work I was trained to do. Insurance paper work is why this system of health care is so expensive. Few doctors starting private practice can afford the personnel required to fill out all the insurance papers so he or she must join a hospital group or HMO. Private doctors are almost a thing of the past. A cost consultant is always second guessing the needs of the patient. Now many hospitals say their costs are sky rocking but they always seem to find more money for competitive expansions . It is the health care race to mediocrity. But to ignore a dying ,bleeding patient just boggles the mind.
by
cluelessfl (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 184 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:44:54 AM
from the medical negligence and even malice with the Universal Health Insurance or not. We al know that Universal Health Insurance in Canada and other countries is not some separate thing- it is a part of the Social Package which those nations had adopted which in some cases include paid maternity vacations, etc. Here they are all in arms against not the Universal Health but against the Social Package which has to accompany it and that would mean.. guess what- a different system.
As for death I can say that I have been here for 18 years, visited several hospitals as a patient and/or relative of one and I can tell you that I personally had prevented many people I loved or just knew from either death or severe injury by just watching what the personnel was doing and interrupting them. I could list what I saw but the cause was always the same- overwork and total indifference due to tiredness of those people. They were not malicious- just totally indifferent. Their livelyhood was not tied even a bit to the welfare of the patients and as such they did what was necessary, nothing more. But doing what is necessayr only has an old name - 'italian strike'. That is we all know that we have to do more than necessary otherwise all stops. And then.. I am afraid to predict but those hospital people who killed a woman should expect another visit. This time it will be a young man with a gun. Good luck.
by
Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3454 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:47:10 AM
I apprehend a complete failure to acknowledge the root of the problem.
I watched in the fifties and sixties as the insurance companies bought all of the hospitals in the United States. As soon as the insurance companies gained ownership of U.S. hospitals, the cost of a stay at a U.S. hospital started increasing exponentially. In the 1950's a day in a U.S. hospital would cost about $40.00 - $60.00. In 1987, the average charge for the same semi-private room was in excess of $8,500.00. In only a few years, the charge for just the hospital room increased about twenty fold.
All other hospital charges followed the same patern. U.S. hospitals instituted the practice of charging insane amounts for everything, and padding their bills with all sorts of charges for items which had not even been provided. For example, I got a $23,000 hospital bill (not counting the doctors' bills) for my step son having his appendix removed, and was charged for bed pans and all sorts of medications that he did not recieve.
Several years prior to that, my great uncle had paid over $250,000.00 for a few months in the hospital, when he was dying of cancer. The hospital also sent his son a $200,000.00 bill after he was dead.
The insurance companies have acquired controling interest in U.S. hospitals, and have used that control to make certain that every person in the U.S. either pays them every month, or they will be unable to obtain medical treatment.
The whole thing is entirely an extortion scam, where the costs of health care have been manipulated for the purpose of setting the insurance companies up to charge huge premiums from the majority of Americans every month, and bilk the U.S. taxpayers out of as much as posible; cashing in on pork barrel politics, using an extremely well funded lobby to purchase politician's votes for funding for medicare, medicade, etc.
The solution is to audit what has occured with the ownership of the medical industry, and take appropriate anti-trust actions. Also the extortions and frauds which have been perpetrated need to be punished.
I'll bet that if we recover the monies the insurance companies have defrauded us of over the years, an annuity could be established that will pay for universal halth care for perpetuity, without ever toutching the principle.
by
Brent Douglas Cole (2 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 10 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 12:02:32 PM
The staff of that emergency room and the 911 operators that took no action should all be arrested and charged with Depraved Indifference Homicide. They collective killed that woman as surely as if they had shot her in the head.
This country will never have a single payer health care simply because the insurance industry has already bought and paid for most of our representatives on Capitol Hill.
by
walley (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 108 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 12:10:38 PM
To respond about the death on the ER floor. I think this is outrageous. But do NOT blame or guess it was due to the lack of universal healthcare insurance. I believe we need that desperately. Here in Ohio this is a group called SPAN that has a great idea of how to have a reasonable and good plan. This death was in part probably due to the bureaucracy of the system. I have heard this hospital has had many complaints about their care. If this is a hospital that gets funding from the government then they have certain standards of care which they have to meet. I had heard they failed their inspections. Yet what has the government done about this? There is a law (federal) that says even if you do not have any healthcare insurance you are to be evaluated and stabilized before sending you anywhere.
This seems to have been overtly ignored if that is what happened. Others should have called the nursing supervisor or the patient relations department or the administrator on call. EVERYONE and ANYONE is allowed to do that. I have seen too many ER's that are very short staffed so that the nurses are jerked around from one part of the ER to another. You never see the same nurse during a shift. They have to use walkie talkie type devices to communicate where they are and usually all over the place. One may draw your blood, another may start your IV, another might check your labs. But doesn't anyone one Nurse evaluated the whole picture? NO. This is not happening just in this hospital. I have heard about this trash from many places. Well respected and supposed top hospitals in the country. Makes me sick.
Thanks to the Doctors' and their buddies in the insurance industry who have had laws changed to protect them from their own negligence or prevent people their just damages, have made treatment or lack there of without checks and balances. Hospitals promoted all their certifications and Awards, that are padded with statistics that do not really represent the truth. Too much emphasis is placed on the appearance of the hospital concierge services, all sorts of unnecessary things.
But who is evaluating if the care is really being given as it should. The things sent by Press Ganey asks questions do you feel you got good care. They don't ask if the appropriate care has been given. I say not.
Over the years I have seen a big deterioration in organized care. Too much importance is placed on ridiculous things rather than care. People are coming back and forth from one hospital only to come to another the next week because their issues weren't addressed. Too often the public is not educated on the right things.
The stats do not ask when they are bumped out of the hospital to their homes are they truly better or just well enough to go home, but what happens there. I have seen so many patients that should have been given information regarding their chronic conditions and the opportunity to ask questions. They are often bumped out without being able to do so. So what happens they get worse or don't bother to follow the directions because they do not understand or able to give feedback.
A long time ago, patients got much better care than a piece of paper with info they might not be able to understand. The system has failed miserably if you ask me. And the system pats itself on the back.
But a a whole lot of us old RN's are not happy abut the way healthcare is practiced today. You get written up if you don't smile, or have to sign behavior papers which mandate you smile or say please and thank you rather than if the hospital has provided what you need to practice safe nursing.
My parents taught me manners. You are evaluated if you participated in this or that but even those things may be given to the same people over and over, and competency has nothing to do with it. Those who give great care never are rewarded but harassed because they will not go with the system if they believe that it could hurt the patient. Most of the time that is OK because our patients know who has worked for their benefit, and that is the ultimate thanks we get. Seeing them get better and the help they need. That is the patient and their families.
Some of us do believe we are the ultimate patient advocate to protect them from disease but also the system itself. So you are often harassed one way of another. So many nurses are leaving bedside nursing because they are tired of it. Who will replace us? Heard of the nursing shortage? Are newer nurses getting rushed trough to fulfill this need. ARE THE NURSING BOUNTIES ON GIVING BONUSES TO NEW HIRES LEAVING THEM OPEN TO FILL THEIR SPOTS FOR THE REQUIRED TIME LIMIT BEFORE GOING TO ANOTHER PLACE TO GET A BONUS. Longevity AND TIME IS HOW YOU ALSO GET EXPERIENCE, BUT THOSE MAY NOT BE WHAT IS ENCOURAGED.
This is not an excuse for this episode. I am just saying it happens all the time. But do not blame the events on things that might not be true because then you risk it to fail later (Universal healthcare).
This was plain and simple neglect, and failure to provide care, and gross behavior. You cannot say this woman would not have died. If they had treated her effectively in the beginning (as she was admitted I think 2 times before) then she may not have died. But they also gave her Ibuprophen which is contraindicated for anyone having GI distress. The day she came in and she was vomiting blood I heard she had perforated her bowel or stomach which would have dramatically increased her risk of death. There is no excuse for them not to have been resuscitating her when she hit the door. There is no excuse for the police who later came and tried to take her out of the hospital in such dire condition that she was dead by the time they got her to the car. They deserve a great big lawsuit, and that hospital needs a revamping.
It is the only hospital, I guess, in a site where good healthcare is really needed the first time, as these people cannot afford to keep coming back and forth. It is not only medically dangerous, but a waste of money.
But what needs to be reported is an exact accounting as to what happen. Too many are just speculating without knowing the actual real facts. Until we do this stuff is damaging because, in the end the truth gets muddled in all this.
But people do need to get real orally active with their elected officials who are letting the Healthcare insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies write the laws, and who do you think will make the profits?
PS it had nothing to do with her being Hispanic. She was an American citizen born here. And those who say their behaviors are histrionic.-- that word is used incorrectly all too often. Anyone who comes from other ethnic backgrounds often are passionate about their views and expressions. DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH YOUR SO CALLED MUMBO-JUMBO RIDICULOUS PSYCH TERMS. Obviously, she was not histronic- she was in pain, probably had peritonitis and in severe pain, and died. Obvioulsy she was not treated correctly the first two times she came in...again, not histronic but in distress!
No ER should ever double what a patient says no matter what or however many times a patient comes in. Too often the boat has been missed
From a seriously angry RN who knows that things like this happen every day!
by
Pikan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 12:30:52 PM
"And those who say their behaviors are histrionic. That word is used incorrectly all too often. "
Reality is NOT PC and neither is good medicine. That said it is a well known scientific fact that on average hispanics are the most histrionic race. I treat hispanic patients all the time and many will act out like they are dying over an extremely minor problem. It is part of their cultural norm. Regardless this in no way excuses what happened to that woman but MAY explain why the complaints were overlooked i.e. 'boy that cried wolf' syndrome....once again don't 'shoot the messenger' as I merely offering posibilities without knowing all the facts of the case.
cya
Ben
by
BenMarbleMD (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 203 diaries, 297 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 2:18:09 PM
For decades, researchers have reported how different ethnic groups respond to pain. His comment is based on data, and it is important for physicians to know these things. That said, like Dr. Marble said, vomiting blood is not histrionic and should have immediately clued the staff at the hospital to the urgent need for treatment.
by
Rob Kall (808 articles, 3921 quicklinks, 332 diaries, 1703 comments)
on Friday, June 15, 2007 at 5:27:55 AM
The Right Wing Cry of against Universal Health Care labeling it "Socialized Medicine" is so ludicrous. We have tax supported or "socialized" school systems, "socialized" security-Police, Fire, inspections, "socialized" high schools, colleges, community colleges and Military. I just do not understand the stupid argument against health care for all.
Please read my plan which Senator OBAMA's medical specialist, a physician read and rudely rejected, we think, because it took most of the corporate profit out of the equation My plan is financed by taxing the crap out of Corporations which outsource, which caps CEO comp-packs at $.2.5 mill, and no more than 25 times the average comp-pack of ALL employees including outsourced salaries. you can find it at:Why We Need to Have a Referendum For A Corporate Fair Practices Act!
by
Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (144 articles, 1 quicklinks, 95 diaries, 1311 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 2:09:09 PM
I don't understand !! Why are people complaining about this woman's death ? She didn't have health insurance .. Then why is anyone expecting that she will get the best care in the world ? If you are a rational human being, then you would have done everything possible to stay alive; and that includes paying for health insurance. Why do you think anyone is ENTITLED to free healthcare ? It is not the right of any person to receive free healthcare. Then why would any doctor sacrifice 20 yrs of their lives to become a doctor if all the insurance-less people in the country start DEMANDING that they be treated for free ? You cannot go into bestbuy and DEMAND a free plasma TV ... same way you cannot go into a hospital and demand free treatment.
I myself am a highly educated person working in the technology industry and so is my wife who is a doctor. We have a comfortable income; but even then we are careful about money. We are in our thirties and still haven't had kids because we are not financially ready for that; while this Edit Rodrigues is 43 and already a GRANDMOTHER !!! What kind of person becomes a grandmother at 43 ??? Having children is not a right. Breed them only if you can feed them.
Life is all about choices.. Choose to pay for health insurance and you can expect to receive reasonable care at a good hospital... Choose to plan your family and your finances and you can expect to have a comfortable life. Now don't argue that she didn't have the money to pay for health insurance.. First of all, if you don't have money, then you anyway shouldnt expect insurance... Even otherwise, she has the money to raise a family and become a grandmother at 43...
Stop whining and work !!
by
rakesh sharma (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 2:39:02 PM
Hey, my boss just sent in a $500 Cobra payment for ONE month for his newly-graduated-from-college son -- and that is COBRA and for ONE person, not the higher-cost private health insurance. Since more and more jobs aren't offering health care or only offering very highly priced health care -- you expect the person to be able to afford to pay for private health insurance for himself and his wife? Puh-lease!
As for breeding children -- talk to the pope. Meanwhile, the president of United Healthcare makes out like a bandit. When 25-30 cents of every healthcare dollar goes for administration, something is sicko. Nope, increase taxes and give us universal healthcare, preferably single payer -- get the profit-motive out of healing!
NOTE to Those of us with a HEART and some compassion: Go to http://johnconyers.com/ and sign a petition to support H.R. 676 to provide a strong single-payer system.
by
Kate Anne (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 13 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 6:10:53 PM
"Take the profit motive out of healing" ?? wtf... why would competitive people ever become doctors then If text deleted by editor for ad hominem name calling. Commenter be warned. like you DEMAND that doctors treat FOR FREE all the people with illnesses ? How can you demand that other people pay for your treatment ? Why should I pay for your treatments ?
If you choose to become parent when you are a teenager ; and you choose to become a grandparent in your forties; you might end up being unable to pay for other things .. like health insurance; And an untimely death in the ER is a possible outcome. Life is all about choices.. choose wisely and don't expect other people to pay for your mistakes.
There is no such thing as a free lunch ! You have to pay for everything ; and that includes healthcare. If you are so pissed off with the current system, then opt out of health insurance - and pay for each hospital visit with your own money.
Stop whining and start working... And make wise choices in your life.
by
rakesh sharma (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 7:00:08 PM
If you feel that doctors are blood sucking profit oriented vermins, then don't go to them. Why are you even complaining they they deny you help if you hate them ?
We doctors are not willing to sacrifice 20 years of our lives putting ourselves through medical school if we were not in it for the profit. Why can't you losers not figure that out. If you don't want to pay for our services - fine, just ask for our help... Buy a knife and scalpel and do it yourselves.
by
rakesh sharma (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:59:05 PM
I think it should be pretty obvious to everyone that you are a complete word removed by editor, though the editor is in agreement, for name calling...there is this lil idea called 'first do no harm' that you should check into
by
BenMarbleMD (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 203 diaries, 297 comments)
on Friday, June 15, 2007 at 2:04:24 AM
