Medical Admin has died.

[BlueIris]

His wife posted about him here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=632763

Some of you may be aware of his struggles. A long explanation is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002252691


((( Medical Admin & Family )))

[Delphinus]

1. Thank you.

I remember his post and how shocked, saddened, incensed, and touched I was by his outlook.

May his family and loved ones be blessed.

[NJCher]

2. what an exceptional person

I hadn't seen this, so I am grateful you brought it to my attention.

We are all the poorer for the loss of this exceptional individual.

What a story. What a life story, for one, and then what he had to go through since the two accidents. The U.S. regulatory system let him down, in every way, which is why he wrote:

I will die soon and the ONLY REASON is that I don’t live in a civilized country.

I think we all seek to find a way to come to terms with such disturbing, awful stories.

This is how I think of it: we're a nation at war, not just in Afghanistan or Iraq (yeah, I know, ostensibly over), but civilly, too. The war is economic and it's against our own citizens. It is the economic system vs. the people. MedicalAdmin points out:

It has been estimated that about 100,000 people die in the USA a year from lack of proper care. That is more people every 2 weeks than died on 9-11. We spent about a trillion in response to that event. So why aren’t we responding to this with the same passion and strength? (bold face mine)

It's always about money, and not even life or death interferes with that goal. This story, which I heard on NPR, illustrates it: LBJ was asked why he didn't get out of Vietnam. Finally, asked one time too many, he said in exasperation, "I can't get out! My friends are making too much money!"


Cher

[findrskeep]

3. What happened to this man

is a complete travesty. How very sad. My hope is that this will inspire us all to keep up the fight until everyone wakes up to what we allow to take place in this country.

[icymist]

4. He will be missed.

A true victim of the system. This is why we need single payer healthcare.

[get the red out]

8. We cannot call ourselves civilized

until we get it.

[icymist]

9. I know what you mean.

I am in mourning. A lot of that is for ourselves, what we allow.

[LiberalEsto]

5. Rest in peace, dear Medical Admin

Healthcare in the U.S. is a national disaster. People are dying or getting sicker because of this.

My neighbor Lynn, who is unemployed and uninsured, with no source of income beyond food stamps, has been trying for weeks to get our county social services department to give her a medical voucher to see an eye doctor, but they keep stalling and screwing things up.

She can no longer see well enough to drive or even read. She has diabetes and other medical conditions, but she can't qualify for Social Security disability and Medicaid until an eye doctor certifies her as visually impaired. She's afraid her eyes will worsen because of the delays, causing her to lose her sight permanently. She worked for years at IBM, but got laid off and has had trouble finding work since then, mostly because of her health and the economy.

On Sunday she started having symptoms in one eye that might have been a detached retina (which is a medical emergency).
She was taken to the local hospital ER, where they consulted with an ophthalmologist about her. He arranged to see her as a charity case because of the seriousness of her condition. It turns out that both of her retinas are hemorrhaging. He did an injection into one eye to slow or stop the hemorrhaging. The other eye isn't as bad, but he will give it an injection next week. She has absolutely no way to pay for this. She's been living with our other neighbor, who receives disability and Medicaid because of a severe neck injury, and lives in his late mother's house.

Lynn potentially could still wind up blind. All because our underfunded social services department in Montgomery County, MD, one of the wealthier counties in the nation, didn't seem to recognize the seriousness of her situation.

[glinda]

6. awful awful awful

[NJCher]

12. My heart goes out to your friend Lynn

Another testament to the deplorable human conditions in this country.

So senseless when some timely care could have prevented it. I hope someone calls social services and let's them know what their lack of timely attention has caused.


Cher

[LiberalEsto]

13. Thanks, Cher

I am sorely tempted to call and complain.
But Lynn needs to stay on good terms with them in order to keep getting what little assistance they provide.
Once she's getting SSID, I might call our county council representative and let him know about it.

What bothers me is that Lynn's case is hardly unique. Too many people in this country are being put through the mill just to receive basic preventive health care and screenings, let alone help for serious conditions. People are getting sicker, dying senselessly like Medical Admin, or potentially bankrupting their families. The entire health "care" system is sick.

[loudsue]

7. Thank you for posting, Blue Iris. I had never read those posts.

What horrific, unnecessary suffering. This country .... and capitalism .... are barbaric.

[yellerpup]

10. He has been on my mind.

It must have taken a lot to share his story the way he did feeling as badly as he must have felt. My heart goes out to his wife. I can't imagine how devastating it would be to lose your love in such a senseless way. We have to change the world.

[kimmerspixelated]

11. This is horrible.

What is also horrible is the continual squashing of alternative methods and Big Pharma's plight to make sure there are no other ways but their way. Did you know that the US is the only country that it's not illegal to advertise drugs on tv? What's wrong with this picture? Lots of other countries use homeopathy or other proven methods as the mainstream treatment... I do think hope is on the horizon, but how many more senseless deaths?