22 year old dead from swine flu because of delayed care
Posted on September 25th, 2009 by Jason Rosenbaum in Insurance Nightmares
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Friends say the Miami University graduate who died this week after reportedly suffering from swine flu delayed getting medical treatment because she did not have health insurance.
News of Kimberly Young’s death Wednesday, Sept. 23, came as a shock to those who knew the vibrant 22-year-old who was working at least two jobs in Oxford after graduating with a double major in December 2008.
Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost, according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.
Mowery said Young eventually went to an urgent care facility in Hamilton where she was given pain medication and then sent home.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Young’s condition suddenly worsened and her roommate drove her to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where she was flown in critical condition to University Hospital in Cincinnati.
Health insurance companies have priced people like Young - young, normal, hardworking - out of the market, and because of skyrocketing premiums, fewer and fewer employers offer health care as a benefit. They're forced to turn to "urgent care facilities," storefront operations that are a poor substitute for real, regular care.
We must change the dynamic of the health insurance market so pricing people like Young out is no longer the norm. A public health insurance option is needed to increase competition and keep the insurance industry honest so they can't delay care even if they want to. Along with affordability provisions to make sure people like Young can afford insurance, this tragic situation could have been prevented.
Upon reading the full article, I learned that she went to an urgent care center and was sent home with pain medication. If she was in critical condition, the urgent care center made a very serious mistake. Whether she had insurance or not, medical professionals deemed her healthy enough to go home on that day. While I understand that she delayed treatment, an urgent care center is generally capable of providing decent care in these situations - and on the lookout for swine flu. I suspect that this could have happened even if she had a doctor.
This is a misleading post, and I am disappointed that your organization is using unconfirmed information and reframing of an article's contents in this way.
Samantha,
That is not the point. The point is that she did not have health insurance and was afraid to seek medical care because of the cost. It is a disgrace that in this country we have such coverage issues. We could learn from the French and the rest of the Western industralized world.
Samantha I hope that you will always have access to medical care if and when you need it as that is my wish for all people. To seek help when needed and not be afraid.
Many Blessings.
I'm disappointed with you Samantha. Let me quote you. "I suspect that this could have happened even if she had a doctor."
"This is a misleading post, and I am disappointed that your organization is using unconfirmed information and reframing of an article's contents in this way." How can you base your disappointment on a hunch? The fact is Kimberley Young could have gotten a timely, better and more sustained treatment if she had insurance. Urgent care centers may be well equipped but the y treat insured and uninsured patients the same way only if their cases are critical, or 'urgent'. There's no guarantee they would have taken blood samples of her there if she wasn't insured. These centers still operate for profit and may not take blood samples if they're not paid. Ok, granted she would have died anyway with timely and proper care are you implying that health reform is unnecessary? At the very least, Kimberley would have a chance to survive. But since she would have died anyway insurance wouldn't have mattered huh?
Hi, Samantha,
I think you're working from a set of assumptions that make this situation seem more reasonable than it is to the rest of us — Kimberly knew she was sick, but didn't go to a doctor or a hospital right away because she was uninsured.
That's all of it right there — we are living through a pandemic of a potentially fatal, communicable disease, and we have people who simply will not go to the doctor or hospital because they can't afford it. This gives the disease time to worsen: TamiFlu only makes a significant difference in the first 48 hours after infection.
Plus, Kimberly didn't go to a regular doctor or a regular hospital — she went to a private, cut-rate urgent care clinic. The only one in Hamilton, called "Urgent Care of Hamilton", isn't even on the web. I've been to a similar clinic — they're lifesavers — but it's not even close to the standard of care that we give our seniors, the disabled, etc.
The system's broken. In every advanced society in the world, when you get a potentially fatal disease, you call a doctor immediately. Somehow or other, every nation that has the resources manages to ensure that this will happen. We failed Kimberly. All of us, including you.
RIP, Kimberly. I'm so sorry.
Nick
publicoption.blogspot.com
"Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate… said Young eventually went to an urgent care facility in Hamilton where she was given pain medication and then sent home."–Dayton Daily News
Pain medication = Dr. Obama's standard of care.
Samantha is so right. Insurance companies and their high prices are never to blame for anything. If you get sick and die, that's the way God wanted. Remember, health care is for profits, NOT for people.
Samatha, thanks for sticking up for the insurance companies and their executives. You help insurance executives retire as billionaires. Maybe you should apply for a job as a PR person at a big insurance company. You would do a good job of white washing everything. The insurance companies need white washers like you.
Kimberlys story is very similar to my sisters story, Pam 5 years ago. She had no insurance and became sick the last week of january 04, that year the flu was really bad,I talked to her that thursday and she sounded better.That friday she became very very sick and didnt want to go to the emergency room, my brother in law said because of money! She didnt know as none of us did it had turned into pneumonia. My sister Pam deserved healthcare some kind of care without going into debt massive debt or minimum debt! Sunday and monday were her last days here on earth. She died early tues.2-3-04 at 40 yrs.old from pneumonia at home never going to the Dr.because of money,and the cost of healthcare. We all deserve better healthcare, SinglePayer Public Option whatever you call it! How about we call it Enhanced Medical not as scary! You know tortures not as scary if you call it enhanced interrogation! Until you know someone personally thats been denied coverage for money or has no insurance because of money and they die!Then You Know!
Lying scumbags out here.
she didnt die of h1n1
http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/wupw_local_mediapartners_kimberly_young_did_not_die_from_H1N1_09282009ds
I'm pretty sure the point still stands - she died because she didn't have insurance.
Nancy - The point is not whether she had H1N1 or not, the point is that she was afraid to seek care because of the high cost.
H1N1 notepad
http://www.conspirare.net
October 2009
On October 1 2009, a former federal health minister dismisses as "crackpots and conspiracy theorists" those who would actively discourage Australians from having their swine flu vaccine'. October 2nd, the San Fransisco Chronicle publishes that 'Everybody seems to be saying TRUST THE GOVERNMENT but it's hard to trust the H1N1 vaccination campaign' and on October 4rd, the Washington Post wonders 'When the swine flu vaccine finally arrives this week, will Americans line up to get it?' and CBS News writes about health care workers protesting the flu vaccine mandate. October 6th Foodconsumer publishes 'Do NOT Let Your Child Get Flu Vaccine — 9 Reasons Why' and writes that 'modern medicine has no explanation for autism, despite its continued rise in prevalence. Yet autism is not reported among Amish children who go unvaccinated'. October 7th Healthnews writes that 72 percent are concerned about potential vaccine side effects and the Examiner writes that' theorists believe that government may force people to take the vaccine'. October 8th Times&Transscript publishes that 'a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal would be included as one of the substances in the H1N1 vaccine', Medill Reports writes that Dr. Mayer Eisenstein is advising his patients to say no and is convinced that vaccines cause autism and the Los Angeles Times Blog publishes that media commentators Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have apparently fallen prey to the loony websites of the anti-vaccine folks and that Beck would do "the exact opposite" of what the government recommended and attend a swine flu party.
September 2009
September 8th 2009, an article on EnjoyFrance reports that France, Greece the UK and the US have or are planning to make the Swine Flus vaccination mandatory and that those opposed are afraid of contracting the Guillain Barre Syndrome or even dying, an anxiety which is, according to this article, rooted in the '76 scare. On September 11th 2009, a Spanish security firm detects a 'swine flu' computer virus and this article quotes Margaret Chan, head of WHO, that she could not imagine major pharmaceutical firms to be behind the the Swine flu outbreak. On September 21th CanadafreePress publishes that the right-wing seems as enamored as the left, when it comes to using big PhRMA to make Big Money. Moammar Gadhafi Rants at U.N. General Assembly according to this article published September 23rd and suggests that the H1N1 flu virus was a military conspiracy. The 'Right to Say ‘No’ to Vaccine' is advocated by Khaleej Times on 24th September 2009.On September 26th, the Daily Contributor publishes that Dr Kent Holtorf, an Infectious Disease Expert wouldn’t even consider having his family take the vaccine'. On September 28th, PrisonPlanet asks the question 'Where Did the H1N1 Late-2009 Flu Season Virus Come From?'.
April - August 2009
April 2009, NaturalNews reports that as Swine flu spreads, conspiracy theories of laboratory origins abound. June 25th, Nature News reports that Austrian Journalist Jane Burgermeister filed charges against WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder. In August, the NWO Observer reports that an official UK government report is warning the British public that there will be countless deaths and that freight containers and “inflatable” storage units may be needed to provide extra mortuary space.
Read the full article with references @ http://www.conspirare.net
notepad publishing (a non-profit news agency based in Switzerland)