Interesting letter to editor in the Guard this morning. Apparently most of the hospitals in Texas are for profits and thanks to so called tort reform signed into law by Rick Perry it's almost impossible to sue them.
In light of the ebola patient who was diagnosed with sinustitis and sent home with a bag of antibiotics whether he needed them or not this letter was written. The writer's mother went to Texas hospital ER. She was diagnosed with a unrinary tract infection after sitting in the ER for two hours. She died two or three hours later of a heart attack.
Now I know that women often don't present the same symptoms as men do when they have heart attacks but I suspect that running a temp isn't one of them. And if you have an infection of some kind you're probably going to run a temp. And I don't know if the cute little instant anaylsis machine they used on the series The Last Ship really exists. Draw the blood, stick in a sample get a DNA analysis of the germ in question. And never having had a UTI I don't know the proticol for diagnosing one but I suspect that a swab and a petri dish are in there somewhere, or used to be.
And Lisa over at Coming to Terms has written about the fun her husband had when he had blood clots in his leg. Sent homw with syringes of Warfarin (blood thinner) and a "let us know if you have any problems." And they have insurance.
Incidentally Mr. Duncan was kept at the Texas hospital for "treatment." And I'm sure they did everything they could with what they had. And he may have been too sick to transport to another facitly. He also didn't have any insurance, In the meantime the two nurses have been shipped to facilities on the east coast that are especially equpped to handle diseases like Ebola. If I was one of Mr. Duncan's relatives I sure as hell would be asking questions.
And a commenter on a story about the original patient suggested that he should have been "euthenized" before he showed symptoms. Didn't really thing that one through did you? However with potential contacts between the original patient and the two nurses pushing nearly a thousand I haven't heard anyone suggesting THEY should be eliminated before they show any symptoms.
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You mention "for profit hospitals" in Texas as if they are unique to that area or difficult to find in other areas of the country. Actually, I think you'll find that NOT for profit hospitals are the vanishing breed. Which is a great deal of the reason why we are where we are when it comes to health "care" in this country.
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