Straight Up with Sherri

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Pay the Money or the Kid Dies!

Is there no end to the despicable behavior of the life for cash profit oriented hospitals? It used to be when someone held your loved one hostage; they would cut the ransom note from old magazines and glue them to a nondescript piece of paper. Nowadays, it seems more convenient to use an insurance document. ABC13 Eyewitness News in Houston, TX reports the story of little Knya Dismute-Howard who was diagnosed with leukemia just weeks after her birth. Five months old now, it seems that her time is up! Not because God has chosen to call her to His kingdom, but because there are no more pieces of silver left.

Her parents have 10 days to find another hospital for Knya or her medical care will stop. "We will not give up," said Charles Howard, the baby's father. "We are going all the way."
"Her mind is fully there," said the baby's mother, Tamiko Dismuke-Howard. "She knows when we are there. I can't give up because she won't give up."

Jesus told us that the poor and sick would always be with us. Some people seem to have other designs for our society. Is this a way to eliminate both by the same policy?

Thanks to Hyscience and BlogsForTerri for the Hat Tip.

A special thanks to Tom at Time Hath Found Us for a related editorial.

Right Wing Nut Job


TIME TO PULL OUT THE MEDIA EMAIL LIST:

Rush@EIBNet.com, kherman@statesman.com, 19Latest@daily.misleader.org, greenpartyusa@igc.org, pjnyden@wvgazette.com, ellengoodman@globe.com, shadowland@newsweek.com, news@reedbusiness.com, MyWord@FoxNews.com, REvans@mercurynews.com, JHubner@Mercurynews.com, prez@usa-exile.org, Malibunews@malibutimes.com, Margolis@foreigncorrespondent.com, FNS@FoxNews.com, Beltway@FoxNews.com, Hannity@FoxNews.com, Colmes@FoxNews.com, alan@alan.com, jim.mills@foxnews.com, Newswatch@FoxNews.com, Oreilly@FoxNews.com, Special@Foxnews.com, latenight@nbc.com, tdp@nt.net, Newswatch@foxnews.com, letters@nypost.com, Moneyline@CNN.com, cushman@nytimes.com, abramsreport@msnbc.com, Hardball@MSNBC.com, evening@cbsnews.com, weekends@cbsnews.com, Questions@MSNBC.com, Joe@msnbc.com, Imus@MSNBC.com, Question@msnbc.com, Nightly@NBC.com, MTP@NBC.com, Crossfire@cnn.com, Wolf@CNN.com, CapReport@cnbc.com, Reliable@cnn.com, newsroom@bergen.com, Jeff.newsstand@cnn.com, Rwallace@herald.com, Arobinson@herald.com, babingtonc@washpost.com, newhnews@ncia.net, Letters@prospect.org, letters@cmonitor.com, inquirer.letters@phillynews.com, letters@detnews.com, DYJackson@tribune.com, ddefenoyl@globeandmail.ca, valley@latimes.com, business@latimes.com, ventura@latimes.com, metrodesk@latimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, the-arts@nytimes.com, bizday@nytimes.com, metro@nytimes.com, national@nytimes.com, washington@nytimes.com, online.editor@thetimes.co.uk, rcribb@thestar.ca, foreign.news@thetimes.co.uk, dbrazao@thestar.ca, ldiebel@thestar.ca, 2020@abc.com, thisweek@abc.com, nightline@abcnews.com , mike@mikemalloy.com, rrhodes@airamericaradio.com, info@alternativeradio.org , info@alternet.org, talk2us@americasblackforum.com, feedback@ap.org, msilverman@ap.org, rfournier@ap.org, hunt@ap.org, bsenftleber@ajc.com, bsteiden@ajc.com, hklibanoff@ajc.com, rnarayanan@ajc.com, atrios@comcast.net, newsonline@bbc.co.uk, anita@mindgallery.com, jfetzer@d.umn.edu, hprzybyla@bloomberg.net, hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net, ombud@globe.com, kcooper@globe.com, oliphant@globe.com, brelis@globe.com, lettersbwol@businessweek.com, richard_dunham@businessweek.com, buzzflash@buzzflash.com, query@cambridgeforum.org, 48hours@cbsnews.com, 60m@cbsnews.com, bpc@cbsnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, sundays@cbsnews.com, grain@cbsnews.com, aweathersbee@suntimes.com, cledbetter@suntimes.com, showcase@suntimes.com, jcruickshank@suntimes.com, sneed@suntimes.com, ddouglas@suntimes.com, rkemper@tribune.com, cgarrett@tribune.com, GWashburn@tribune.com, jzeleny@tribune.com, MPossley@tribune.com, jcrewdson@tribune.com, bmccauley@enquirer.com, dhorn@enquirer.com, jborgman@enquirer.com, jloven@ap.org, kcarroll@ap.org, npickler@ap.org, sjohnson@ap.org, cwarmbold@ajc.com, wilsonc@timesrecordnews.com, drudge@drudgereport.com, news@worldnetdaily.com, letters@worldnetdaily.com, Hannity@foxnews.com, Colmes@foxnews.com, me@glennbeck.com

Also: Contact Focus on the Family

posted by Straight Up with Sherri at 9:08 PM

12 Comments:

  • This is just disgusting to me...

    I cannot believe we even have to have these kind of duscussions in America...

    Where do doctors get to decide to kill? Passive or aggressive.. still killing...Who is worthy, etc.. It is the INSURACE companies deciding.. all about the $$$$$$

    LOVE THIS SYSTEM! ARG!

    And they want to put GOVERNMENT in CHARGE OF HEALTHCARE? GOOD GRIEF!

    They handle money worse than my 15 year old son!

    By Blogger Straight Up with Sherri, at 10:45 PM  

  • This really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the hospital itself though.

    Texas passed a law where if a healthcare provider disagrees with a decision of a guardian on life or death treatment, the final decision will be up to a committee and if they agree with the hospital, the family has 10 days left to find alternate treatment.
    The original law Bush signed in 1999 only applied to adults, and in 2003 it was appended to include pediatric care.
    Pro-life organisations had a hand in drafting both the original proposal and the amendment and both passed with a unanimous vote.
    (This just to clear it up since a whole lot of articles get it wrong and point out it's the law Bush signed that applies, while he actually only signed the one for cases with adults and not minors)

    It is about money, but it's not the hospital that made the law to decide it's not cost-effective to keep providing treatment to people who won't benifit from it.

    And I don't even know if they made the right decision. If the family vehemently disagrees, obviously they didn't.
    Even if they're right about futile treatment, sending a "you have 10 days left" letter seems a rather cruel thing to do to any family.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:10 AM  

  • I have a cousin who was given 6 months to live with leukemia...he had a 2 year old daughter and was afraid she would never remember him.. He went in for experimental medical treatment at Roswell Memorial Hospital in NY and ....well, he is a grandfather today. His 2 year old daughter is grown with children of her own and now he is afraid that he will become their ONLY babysitter ! (Haha). Miracles can happen.

    Leukemia can be beat....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:48 PM  

  • It seems you also stopped reading after it since you failed to notice the part where I point out the fact that while some articles name Bush, he only signed the law that affects adults and not the amendment to extend it to minors so they got that wrong.
    If you'd spent the time it took you to reply and get on my case for something I never even said on a reread, I wouldn't have to be wasting my time right now pointing that out to you and dealing with the accusation that I somehow don't care.

    From the articles I've read, there isn't nearly enough information to conclude that she's dieing unnecessarily so the furthest I'll personally go is "investigate". You can choose to deny reality time and time again and jump to conclusions, but that doesn't mean you're right.
    Irrationally prolonging life is in most cases simply wrong. Medicine is there to heal and failing that it's there to provide comfort. If it can't do anything but cheat death or create the illusion of life where none exists for a short period of time then it's time to reevaluate treating priorties.
    That's a near universal consensus of what modern medical care should be like and is exactly why National Right to Live co-wrote both versions of the law and why Texas Right to Life also supported it.

    Saying I somehow don't care is rather low. I very much wish I had anywhere near the power to give her a full and happy life. To give her parents the pleasure of watching her grow up, to give her a happy childhood full of memories she'd treasure for the rest of her life, but I can't.
    If she's merely sick, she deserves everyone doing what they can to make her better or at worst stablize her condition. If she's dieing, she deserves an end of life care that does its best to make her passing as comfortable as possible and does whatever it can for her parents to ease them through it.
    In no way does she deserve to be dismissed if she can be helped and in no way does she deserve to have her death process prolonged beyond reason.

    "Texas hospital gives up hope on baby Knya. Investigation needed" gets the message across just as well as "Pay the Money or the Kid Dies!". The first recognizes that hospitals aren't always right and that it never hurts to have someone second guess and reevaluate and most importantly, it doesn't prejudge. The second is just pure sensationalism and shows a total lack of respect so I'm sorry if I felt offended by that.
    What's desperatly needed in this case is the opinion of a doctor(s) appointed by the parents to examine and/or review her and if they agree with the hospital's and committee's assesment. Either they're wrong and she needs care, or the hospital was right and the parents need possible support to face a sad reality.
    What they don't need is anyone coming up to them and giving them false hope under the pretense of hoping to get another high publicity court case going to push a certain agenda.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:12 AM  

  • Since I actually bothered to look for a more precise account of her condition right now:

    "Knya Dismuke-Howard's case dates to early December, when Memorial Hermann diagnosed the then 5-week-old with leukemia, the most common cancer in older children but extremely rare in infants. She received treatment at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center but shuttled back and forth to Memorial Hermann because M.D. Anderson's intensive care unit only accepts children 3 and older.

    The survival rate for infant leukemia is 50 percent, but it drops to 5 percent if the patient relapses, and significantly less than that once complications occur. Infant patients tolerate chemotherapy reasonably well, as long as the dosage is adjusted for their size, said an M.D. Anderson doctor.

    In the last month, Knya Dismuke-Howard's leukemia relapsed and complications set in, such as the brain tumor, a life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection and multiple-organ failure. Her white blood cell count dropped to zero."

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:40 AM  

  • Vanessa

    What is your point? The odds are agaisnt her so we just stop treating her? Don't you see what is going on here? People argue the "right to die" but then apply it as the right to kill.

    Where is the written directive of this baby saying that she would like to deny herself medical treatment? Heck, even her guardians aren't arguing her right to die- or her wishes....

    Oh, how Hitler would be proud of your grasp on the useless eaters and your ability to progress it to others you deem unworthy of the chance for life.....

    These are REAL PEOPLE we are talking about. REAL LIVES!

    Some people make it against all odds in MANY situations- medically or otherwise. Christopher Reeves for one.

    They say a child missing for 3 days has a next to 'nil chance of being found alive. Should we then save the taxpayer dollars and stop all searches-- I mean the odds are against them....

    What about the rapist and sexual predators? The chances for them to be released into society and NOT commit another assualt are skinny minny. 75% of them do it again (and these are the only ones CAUGHT!). Do we keep them locked up so they don't do it again for the rest of their lives? if so- who's paying for it....

    If America is so worried about money being spent in FUTILE ways- lets start with someone other than the ELDERLY, HANDICAPPED, ETC!

    The family has asked for help-- If you don't want to help- then don't. YOUR choice. Just as it is MY CHOICE to HELP! Aren't you PRO-CHOICE?

    By Blogger Straight Up with Sherri, at 11:13 AM  

  • I love how you take me saying "there isn't enough information" and somehow twist it around to suggest that I do think she should die when I didn't even say I personally agree with the notion the treatment should be withdrawn and then to go even beyond that and imply that I somehow want to kill whole portions of the population.

    I already wrote a somewhat lengthy personal commentary earlier in stark contract to the nonsense that's being talked about on BFT in the comments and if you want to actually read it over and be critical you're most welcome to, although I very much doubt you'll agree with any of it, or if you'll even read it through to the end.
    I'll mail the link since it doesn't belong here on your blog considering and then you can decide whether it's worth your time to read it or not.
    If you do read it through fully and think I shouldn't comment here anymore then I won't, but I'm personally rather tired of being constantly accused of wanting to take lives when it's everything but that.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:08 PM  

  • Vanessa
    The odds for Infant Leukemia are not as dooming as your statistics portray.
    The information at St Jude's leukemia Hospital in Memphis website, which by the way does not refuse treatment to children who can not pay, indicates that there are experimental treatmentss which are showing promise...even for acute cases.

    Diagnosis and prognosis are based upon an average of patient responses..not upon the range of responses...Miracles can happen. Miracles begin in the fring standard deviations from the norm...but they will never happen if there is no faith that they can happen. You must first believe; then all things are possible. We can not base our decisions to treat or not to treat upon "present" knowledge...we must always be reaching forward with hope..that is how progress is made and cures are found. That's why I LOVE teaching /research hospitals...they know what clinical trials are showing promise and guide patients that way..I am alive today because i opted for an experimental treatment of melanoma at Univ of Penn Hospital in '96....my local hospital told me I was going to die. I didn't...thanks to a research hospital...
    I repeat,
    "I have a cousin who was given 6 months to live with leukemia...he had a 2 year old daughter and was afraid she would never remember him.. He went in for experimental medical treatment at Roswell Memorial Hospital in NY and ....well, he is a grandfather today. His 2 year old daughter is grown with children of her own and now he is afraid that he will become their ONLY babysitter ! (Haha). Miracles can happen.

    Leukemia can be beat...."

    I did send the St Jude Call Center information to Hnya Howard's family via Miya Shay (the reporter of the ABC report) Miya sent me an email saying she DID give the info to the family within 24 hrs...I am waiting for an update.

    I sent them a few helpful contacts..that provide treatment regardless of ability to pay.

    Statistics are interesting but not the sole determiner in treatment, healings and cures.



    http://www.stjude.org/leukemia/0,2530,422_2049_10616,00.html

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