I think it is all symptomatic of the same problem Dana. The rich and corporatist America get taken care of. The rest of us get screwed. Welcome to the fascist police state...if you are not rich or you are not a corporation...you "das untermenschen"
-----Original Message----- From: Dana [mailto:dana.tier...@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 9:06 AM To: cf-community Subject: social class determines results of medical tests Here's one reason I'm having trouble getting worked up about a strip search. I have been reading up on Anna Brown's case with a growing sense of outrage. Discovering that Dick Cheney was diagnosed with the same condition just makes it more special. http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/guest-commentary-dick-cheney-and-anna-b rown/article_900161a6-9c8e-5b6d-b7fe-5770bdb2f8fe.html Since I've had this condition and still take coumadin for it, I appreciate the significance of the ultrasound test. It means they actually correctly suspected a DVT but failed to take the next diagnostic step. The fact that the woman died means that the blood clot had already moved from her legs to her lungs. This is a common and lethal complication of DVT. And they didn't bother to look for it. Most likely the cost of a CAT scan was a factor, but there's a blood test that is fairly effective as a screening tool. Since this condition is incredibly under-diagnosed it's not unusual to need to keep going back to the ER, I think I had to go seven or eight times. So this isn't simple racism -- it's also ignorance and poor medical protocols. However. I feel the need to make the comparison. I went to the ER seven times and was diagnosed in time to save my life. And by the way, they told me it was a close call. This woman goes back three times and is ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING. The police say they thought she was a drug seeker. Even supposing she was, as opposed to dying and desperate -- is that any reason to drag her into the police station by her arms? The hospital said something about "complex social problems." OK sure, Anna Brown had some of those. What killed her, though, was a medical system that decided she wasn't worth doing a diagnostic scan that would have established that she had a curable condition that could have been treated with a prescription that retails for $9 a month at WalMart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:349460 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
