Read the article she was not allowed to stay with her Mom because CPS would not allow her to stay in the same home as her children.

Please re-read the article. Nothing screams at me that the mother kicked her daughter to the curb. It screams at me that CPS put some conditions on the grandmother having custody. Does anyone else read it that way, or is it just me?

The way I read the article, child protection services allowed the kids to live with her mother with the condition she didn't also reside in the home.

Thank you stormriderxxxx- I thought I'd lost my mind. Of course, maybe I have and just don't realize it yet. But at least someone else understood it the way I did.

The kids are with the mother now. but where was the mother BEFORE all hell broke loose. It was only after CPS got involved that Davis couldn't see her kids at her mothers house but why not before CPS was involved?

Steve: Yup, blame game all over. What is really at issue here is that the various hospitals didn't take the time to really check her out and turned her over to the cops for trespassing in a HOSPITAL. Now, who is really to blame are the doctors who kicked her out of the hospital, remember the hospital where she was arrested for 'trespassing?' What it really says to me that we don't really have the greatest hospitals in that area and...she should have been evaluated more thoroughly before calling the cops!

“The sad reality is that emergency departments across the country are often a place of last resort for many people in our society who suffer from complex social problems that become medical issues when they are not addressed".

Having an idiot doctor declare a patient well enough to be dumped in a jail cell is not addressing the medical needs of a patient. This woman wasn't a criminal unless it is now a crime to be mentally ill or poor. The best approach would have been to admit the patient, stabilize her, then release, regardless if she was from the streets. Its all about the money or the lack of it and the homeless and poor, the ones without Medicare or Medicaid, receive the worst health care in the United States. If your poor with out medical insurance, don't get sick because it may be the last thing you do.

Steve's got it right...

EMTLA!

More of this to come - while we give the oil companies 140 Billion in tax breaks - we fail the very people we need to serve. From what we can gather at least from the article she was pushed into this situation due to cirrcumstances beyond her control. Police departments and other service providers need to be taught COMMON SENSE. Just tazing / handcuffing / shooting people are not an answer to civil control. THe doctor who discharged her without a more thorough review was the first culprit. Emergency rooms are a joke - you wait for hours and then are given symptomatic relief charged $5000/- and then discharged unless you are having a heart attack / stroke or are in trauma it is pointless to go to emergency rooms. One is better off going to an urgent care at certain Pharmacies

Her mother, Dorothy Davis, received custody of Brown's children on the condition that Brown couldn't also live with them

Read the article people. Yes she was neglected but not by her mother. It was the system that neglected her. If the woman was at 3 different hospitals shouldn't have someone figured there may have been something else wrong with her. OHHHH WAIT!!!! She had no insurance so throw her in jail instead of listening to her. But don't blame her mom because state mandated that she wasn't permitted there

why after a tornado destroyed her home she was not recieving help from all the disaster relief the government always provides? Where was the help from the (corrupt) red cross? Why was she living in a house with utilities? did she ask utilities for help? there are groups that help with utilitie bills for the needy! Why did she not get foodstamps or unemployment? Did she have any of these forms of help? There is alot of help out there, it dont pay your other bills , but these groups do allow you to survive while trying to get things back on track, Why did her other not know how her daughter and grandkids were living? Was she concerned about her after the tornado, after she lost her job, or, is she only now concerned now that she has her grandkids and the daughter is gone?

I read the article and understand that CPS didn't want mom living at grandma's home with the kids. But I wonder.
1. When mom lost her job and couldn't pay the bills, why didn't grandma take them in right away? Give them a home when they needed amenities and a safe environment before CPS was involved?
2. What did CPS see (that isn't mentioned in the article) that is so drastic as to disallow mom to live with her kids in a family situation?

Another thing of note and not necessarily pertinent to this situation, if mom is homless and is hospital hopping for medical treatment, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities that she is just looking for pain-killers. I hate to be pessimistic, but I have seen it many times. A patient calls for a new doc because their previous 3 docs stopped prescribing the pain meds.

I think the hospital may have erred in not running a blood test. I recently had one and it turned out I had an elevated d-dimer, an indicator of a pulmonary embolism. A CT scan was ordered and luckily it wasn't. But if she had a simple blood test, it may have helped them diagnose her problem before tragedy struck.
At any rate, this is just speculation as the article is short on factual details. I hope I'm wrong. I hope the information on the surface is 100% accurate. But I'm naturally pragmatic. I question everything.

Why couldn't she stay with her mother BEFORE cps got involved? The living conditions in her house sound awful. A lot of people in need are unaware of the services available to them, or are unwilling to seek help because many such services provide assistance, but not dignity.

Terrible. Truely. And I also know not every single person suffering from a multititude of misfortune and illness cannot be saved. But please. We've got to have a better safety net. Its nearly non-existant. Its worth it and so are these people. I hope she rests in peace.

Maybe her mother didn't want her living there? Maybe she was afraid of her, or she had disgusting habits? She couldn't just take the kids herself, and it's not likely she would have called CPS on her daughter.

This is one of the saddest stories I have read lately. This poor woman lost her home to a tornado, lost her job, lost her children to CPS because she could not afford to heat their home and have running water...and then she lost her life because no one wanted to believe her and help by admitting her to a hospital for further diagnostic tests. Unless she was abusing the children, I do not know why CPS would not allow her to move in with her mother, long with the children. I am sure she felt so abandoned by society, and alone. Very Tragic.

jeffery f,

"We as a Nation have become immune to the dregs of our society."

Your reference labels a homeless person as our society's dregs speaks volumes of the smallness of heart and mind.

Perhaps everything is perfect in someone's world. but just about any town over 12-15000 can claim its own homeless population. And unforturnately, all too many are Viet Nam, Iraq I, Iraq II, or Afghanistan veterans.

We have NOT become immune to our dregs, but to some of our best; who just need help. And maybe to others, who also deserve help as well.

Health insurance anyone?

So where is the father of these kids?

If we already had Obama Care, would this woman still be alive?

Bill Marvel point taken, It was a bad choice of words on my part. apologies sir.

Out of the woods, It's not about her situation in so much as her death. She was obviously ill and in pain. She acted out and the ER doc had her arrested. the question is, if she was well clothed, insured and white would she have been turned away with the "I've done everything appropriatly in this case" and my answer is not a snow balls chance in he!!...peace

It would have, but it doesn't go into full effect until 2014. Maybe we can travel back in time and fix her then, what do ya say?

Believe me hospitals are all about the bottom line these days. I have had a chronic illness since 2007 that has taken life as I knew it away; I do not want it, I did not ask for it, but I am thankful everyday that I get to wake up in the morning. In February of this yr I was admitted for 12 days for an acute flair up of my condition. I was unable to stand, never mind drive, so I had no choice but to call an ambulance. They took me to the nearest hospital, which none of my care team are affiliated with, but we made due, and I was sent home, as quickly as possible, since it seemed, the docs were uncomfortable treating someone outside of their "system". Nine days ago, after never fully recovering, they same acute symptoms started again. This time I was treated with open animosity. I was told that just like doctors that don't like to take new patients these days that are on Medicare, the hospital was almost full, and they were having trouble justifying my admission. I was dumbfounded. There I was with my head buried in the emesis basin, writhing in pain, and they were questioning admitting me because I was on Medicare. I felt lower than low. It took nine days to get things under control, and for the doctors to finally believe that I was in pain and not drug seeking (why would I be I have a mini-pharmacy at home and they knew it), and receive the proper care.

So after all this IMHO it is not just the homeless that the hospitals don't want to treat anymore, it is anyone that will not add sufficiently to their bottom line. Shame on them, the last I knew the Hippocratic Oath is still in effect; well at least until the insurance companies and big corporate hospitals can tear it apart.

it sounds like ms. woods should have been kept in a hospital to have tests done, receive

her results, treat her, refer for a mental evaluation which would have kept her there

or at another mental facility but treat her condition first. as far as insurance, bs!!!!!!!!!!!!

refer and transport her to a charity facility and tend to her immediate needs first then

send her to a charity facility afterwards so her needs can be met asap!!!!!!!!!!! now

there is a death due to no insurance that is just plain bs!!!!!!!!!!! it sure sounds like

she could not afford insurance and was not on medicaid. all single mothers do not

receive those benefits just because their kids do despite what people who have these

amenities think. if you have not been there do not judge another person and their

financial problems. cps is doing what is in the best interest of the children. they

can suggest that the mother stay with the kids but if that is impossible then the

mother would have to suffice for herself. however, cps could have given the mother

a referral to a mental health clinic but she did not keep it. regardless, ms. woods

should have been treated before she was dismissed from the hospital or the other

2 hospitals involved. the police officers should have checked with a female officer

in depth to see if her problems need further attention instead of just putting her

in a holding cell. so, several issues are involved and sounds like there is legal

recourses especially since two young children are left without their mother.

i am sure their grandmother had justification as to why her daughter could not

live with them but after she was hurt then her needs became severe enough sounds

like she should have been kept in one of the 3 hospitals for sure. the children will

suffer and there is some accountability on someone's part and it should be.

There is something seriously wrong with a country where the head of Bank of America makes $8.1 million and people like this woman cannot even get basic care.

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan made $8.1 million in total compensation last year, more than four times the $1.9 million he received in 2010

you guys who are blaming the drs in this case have NO idea what you are talking about...

You have a woman who came in with an ankle sprain who ended up having a DVT and PE

How on earth would you suspect DVT when you have a readily identifiable cause of leg pain? (sprain)

I would LOVE to do every test conceivable on every patient in the ER but that would leave the system bankrupt. If she had no unilateral swelling, risk factors for DVT (for which sprain is NOT), or other clues a lower extremity ultrasound is NOT warranted

Calm down...this has nothing to do with our health care system, nothing to do with her insurance status, and everything to do with the difficulty and uncertainty in practicing medicine

It's a crying shame St. Mary's Health Center, a Catholic not-for-profit health care system, couldn't do better with their original vision of charitable intentions.

Wonder what the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, one of the largest Catholic systems in the country, that founded the hospitals, would say how this reflects on the teachings of the Bible.

Mother Mary would not have been pleased to see the sick and poor being turned away.

Hope the Court hears of this to realize that even a single human life saved if Obamacare was fully implemented in this cruel and unjust world would be true justice compared to just sending criminals to the gallows. Or more wealth for the filthy rich corporations.

Jeffery- I'm 25 and born in Jersey, so please explain how anything having to do with the Holocaust was my personal fault, as well as what it has to do with this article or my comment (especially considering that I was only pointing out how ridiculous and contradictory the hospitals stated excuse for not treating this woman was, I'm on her side and it seems like you are too)

Or you can keep posting absurd racist WWII-era remarks on 100% unrelated articles for the rest of us to shake our heads at and collapse. I have no idea who you are and that was one of the strangest rebuttles i've ever read.

Calm down...this has nothing to do with our health care system, nothing to do with her insurance status, and everything to do with the difficulty and uncertainty in practicing medicine

You're right Eric, this had more to do with what is common practice. Doctors not listening to their patients period. This woman evidently knew there was something more wrong than the pain was all in her foot or head. Another case of where if you don't have insurance, go home and take a tylenol comes into play.

St. Mary's hospital is not known for it's Medicaid patients.

Richmond Heights police department is known for "ruffing up" it's inmates. Color matters there if you catch my drift. The hospital must have idiots working in their ER department.

I hope they rake these people "over the coals" to get justice for the people they have harmed.

BUT-Richmond Heights police will cover it all up-like they always do. Just watch and see!

What a horrible thing to do to this woman.

There is a lot to blame, but first, let's blame the application processes for all the traumas this woman experienced. There are supposed to be social workers (or at least Red Cross volunteers or FEMA workers) that help people with applications for aid. A number of years ago, I was shocked to find out that a person who is on disability for mental illness is still expected to fill out lots of paperwork or they lose any support, and they have to find proof of bills, rent, utilities, etc. And if it adds up to more than the support offered (because sometimes bills are high), then the person is not considered in need of some different arrangement, but they must be cheating somehow! A person must somehow go back and forth between different agencies (and find the transportation to do so) for all the different paperwork to be filled out, and if the person has a physical disability, they will be sitting up waiting for hours and hours just to get to first base, waiting hours at each bureaucrat's office. And the government has cut the staff of these places, because those welfare people might be wasting government money, even if they have a diagnosed condition. A young adult family member went through this situation, and it took a lot to straighten everything out with other family members' help, and months before approval for support.

After all that, there are doctors who will not take Medicare or Medicaid, even after all the trouble it took to get these things. I know that hospitals are strapped for cash, but this problem is really the lack of a real health care program in the U.S. (Pres. Obama's plan won't be in effect until 2014, if ever, once the Supreme Court gets through with it). But the hospital added terrible insults when they said they had not treated this woman, as if the social problems have anything to do with an ankle: most people who are not doctors do not know how to describe pain, and this woman may have had constant pain in the lungs from living in unheated places. Pain is just described as "1 to 10," not each place where the pain is, and what kind of pain it is. Patients aren't even given the kind of exam they had about 40 years ago: doctors used to look for bruises, but now they just talk to the patient, and won't look at anything unless they already have decided to treat the patient.

It is sad, disgusting, horrible. There is no statute of limitations on murder, but every one of us is murdering thousands of people every day by not supporting health care. See the movie "Sicko" again, which is about people who have health insurance not able to get treatment; it is still appropriate, especially with this Supreme Court case. I pray that Anna Brown rests in peace.

I'm not defending what happened but if she had suffered those injuries days before maybe it was to late to help her at that time, the blood clots were probably there and it was just a matter of time before they would work their way lose and lodge some where like her heart or lungs, people have to think it's not as simple as people think once something is set in motion .......

It seems that everything started to go downhill for this woman right after the storm that destroyed her home!!! She had a job and was doing fine for the most part until she had to move and then lost her job!!!

This is what the USA has become, a land where each and every system wants nothing more than to get someone in a situation like this woman was off their hands and it does not matter what it takes to get rid of them!! I guarantee you that if this woman had medical insurance she would be alive at this very moment!!! But it is better to let the middle man reap the huge benefits of the rigged up private health care insurance we have in this country!!! Glad to see that yet another person has fallen thru not cracks but huge gaping chasms in what should be our society's safety net for people who fall on bad times or unfortunate circumstances!!!

KNOCK IT OFF with the mental illness garbage, as though this somehow explains and minimizes disissive treatment this woman received! ANY of you in the situation this woman fell into would SUFFER MENTAL ILLNESS. Depression is mental illness. But yaknow what? Situations can cause these mental illnesses. Put anyone under enough pressure - losing a hard-won home in a tornado, then a move, losing your min. wage sandwich shop job, trying to keep your children fed clothed and housed without any assistance (father...?), being forced to BURN STUFF ON YOUR KITCHEN FLOOR for God's sake, to keep warm becaue they shut your heat and lights off, and watch how fast YOU are suddenly "mentally ill". Depression is what happens when life kicks you over ---- and over ---- and over--- again. And how we LOVE to use these diagnoses as a way to gloss over the whole issue of what beat a person down in the first place. Soldiers with PTSD - Guess what, people - THEY ARE FRAGILE HUMANS! The soldier who doesnt suffer some kind of emotional scarring coming out of a war zone, was emotionally dead going in! Now as for this woman - She went to THREE different hospitals complaining of leg pain. They couldnt be bothered. This is about money, about a broken system, and about a country with priorities that involve socializaton for bankers and all the largesse towards a war machine that perfects oppression and destruction. And about a populace too pathetic to Rise up and FIGHT this. So we all go down quietly, obediently, submissively, rationalizing why this happened to this woman, and why it could never possibly happen to YOU. Oh NO - not YOU.

Tthis woman, and all the other nameless ones who fall and then are kicked when down - they dont deserve it.

How well would this have flown if this were a white, insured, middle-class, corporate-employed, man? It wouldnt have happened at all. They would have not trivialized his complaints of leg pain.

This country is not just going down a bad path. It has made the journey already. We have arrived at a very bad place. This woman needed help. She needed a living-wage job, and there were none, because we sat back while the richest few gutted our manufacturing sector to exploit wage slave conditions overseas. Just as long as we got our cheap Chinese chotchkes in Walmart, with invisible poverty-level wage cashiers checking us out quickly and with a smile, only the bleeding heart liberals cared. She needed help after a catastrophic event. And this system, the one that we implicitly condone by not marching on this hospital and on the police station for events like this - continues and grows - because of our apathy.

The world is watching us and we are a disgrace.

I am disgusted.

My only solace is that being alive now, I have been given a front-row center ticket to the biggest freak show going.

well look what I found from the original article in the ST Louis Dispatch.

Brown was 29. A mother who had lost custody of two children. Homeless. On Medicaid. And, an autopsy later revealed, dying from blood clots that started in her legs, then lodged in her lungs.

www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/homeless-woman-s-sprained-ankle-leads-to-her-death-in/article_ed640f3d-64a0-516c-88ff-fb770b5e9677.html#ixzz1qarILodD

Kinda changes the story for not having insurance. She had gubernment insurance.

Noelle-588175 so much for the Hippocratic oath in today's over-priced medical-health field. This is an example of the plight of those who are both mentally and physically ill, poor, and in this case homeless along with the incredible lack of appropriate medical attention given to them!

I have all the insurance coverage in the world, was in the ER for 45 mintues and sent home. Orders were that I was to report to my doctor ASAP in the AM & to see a neurologist. I asked for tests and they said they would be too expensive. I couldn't get an appointment for several days. Long story short, I've never been so ill as to require a call to 9-1-1 or to the ER--ever! I am elderly and should I have had a life threatening illness, I would have died that night. I don't live in a backwater town either. I live in Seattle, WA.

From the article...

St. Mary's Health Center says its staff followed medical guidelines and performed appropriate tests,

“Unfortunately, even with appropriate testing using sophisticated technology, blood clots can still be undetected in a small number of cases,”

“The sad reality is that emergency departments across the country are often a place of last resort for many people in our society who suffer from complex social problems that become medical issues when they are not addressed. It is unfortunate that it takes a tragic event like this to call attention to a crisis in our midst.”

Noelle, Doctors are not miracle workers. The article clearly states they ran the appropriate tests. Sometimes tests don’t show everything. The reason medical care is so expensive is because people like the woman in this article have no insurance which causes the rest of us to pick up the tab. We also pick up the tab for Medicare, which pays peanuts.

The article also clearly pointed out that those who do not seek routine medical care to PREVENT issues that become major medical issues often end up in the ER expecting miracle results from the ER Doctor.

The ER treated you appropriately; your attitude is exactly why medical costs are soaring. The EMERGENCY room is for EMERGENCIES! Go see your own doctor!

jeffery fIt's coming my friends and it will start in the middle of the summer when the SCOTUS overturns the affordable care act and legislate the end of SS and Medicare under the same precedent used to overturn this very law. Sad day in America indeed.

So Jeffery, it would be a sad day when the SCOTUS overturns something that is determined to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL? Get your head out of the sand! You are always free to leave America.

Yes, she had Gubernment insurance as you so derisively call it, but you and most of the other hypocrites in this country who deride the poor, accept their government handouts, rather would push their own mother out of line for their share if something was being offered to them for free.

If you don't have a home, then it's hard to get government services or maintain them. How we treat our elderly, poor, and mentally ill in this country is a disgrace. Many people who have fallen on hard times, don't tell their parents that something bad has happened for whatever reason since our parents usually will worry themselves to death about us.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer and my aunt was very sick with cancer when I lost my job. Do you think I told my parents that I lost my job. My siblings were SWORN to secrecy so as not to upset or worry mom. Fortunately my husband still had his job or we would have been in a bad way fast.

For those of you think this story shouldn't matter to you because it will never happen to you, think again. Most of us so called comfortable folk are one unfortunate event away from losing everything. People who actually had the wherewithal to pay for a home usually don't qualify for government aid...they are "too rich" by the antiquated means testing standard used to qualify for such things. By all accounts this poor woman was once a productive contributing member of society.

Mental illness robs productive people of their dignity and keeps them from being the person they would have been otherwise. Nobody signs up for it, nobody who has struggled with mental illness WANTS that. I was diagnosed with depression after years of suffering from chronic migraines. Fortunately, it got caught before it really got bad and I got better after about 6 months of treatment. Not everyone is lucky enough to get back on their game. I am blessed to have good doctors that care about me, a loving husband, great friends and family who are in a position to help.

Yes Mr R, she had our glorious gubment insurance. In case you're unaware, "Medicaid" is basically insurance in name only. The list of exeptions and exclusions is enormous. Hospitals are required to give it a cursory glance. MOST regular Dr's and specialists won't accept it at all.

Me personally? I was fortunate enough to be with my GP for almost 20 years as an employed insurance paying person before I got all broke down, sick and disabled- She chose to keep me and accept medicare and medicaid as my payments, MOST will not. BUT...trying to get me the specialist care I NEED is a nightmare for both of us.

It's a damn shame when Corporate Profits overrun the simple pledge of doctors of "Do No Harm". Of course, knowing a few doctors, it's not like they actually follow it, anyways. They typically are just as greedy as the hospital Conglomerates they work for.

One of the Supreme Court justices said that everyone who arrives at a emergency room hospital with no insurance will be treated and she is correct.

Its funny that now her family wants to hire a lawyer to seek justice. Why didn't her family help her in her time of need while she was alive? They should have sought justice for her back then.

To understand what really happened. Here is the video of her being arrested at the hospital, transported to jail and eventually not responding.

OMG JaneEco, that video is horrible. I feel terribly for that woman. It shows the true callousness of our society today, it's a shame.

The ER treated you appropriately; your attitude is exactly why medical costs are soaring. The EMERGENCY room is for EMERGENCIES! Go see your own doctor!

you're a prime example of the callousness I'm talking about. This woman lost her house in a tornado, her life spiraled downwards to the point where she ended up homeless! And you tell her to "go see her own doctor" and not come to the ER. Are you for real?

This story is ridiculously tragic. Yes, no one person is truly at fault here, but we, as a society are 100% at fault for events like this that happen every day around us. Can't you at least show a tiny tiny amount of empathy for a poor woman who lost her life at 29 years of age, broke, alone, in agonizing pain, and with no one offering to help her?

Good god man...

I'm not at all sorry for this piece of garbage. The way she treated her kids? That's what she is. Garbage. You can be poor and not have a toilet full of feces in your house. You can be poor and not risk your children's lives by lighting campfires on the floor. When it got to that point she had an obligation as a mother to find a better situation for her children and she failed miserably. And lord only knows what was left out of her history. I imagine drugs were involved. It takes ALOT to have CPS take away your kids and put those kid of restrictions on being with them. This was just culling the herd. Everyone is better off now that she's dead. Her kids certainly are.

/gasp

Wow, just wow...

This kind of crap is what big-bucks law suits are for. Maybe the kids will get something out of this. At the least, 3 hospitals, cps and the police department have some culpability in her death.

Hurry Rev. Al and Jess we need you in St louie F Florida!

Do people actually have reading comprehension skills here? Did you even bother to read the whole article before you made the asinine comments?

The article states CLEARLY:

"Her mother, Dorothy Davis, received custody of Brown's children on the condition that Brown couldn't also live with them..."

Please, if you must place blames, then put it where it belongs. The hospital and the police did not treat this lady well because she was poor. To be thrown in jail for something like this, is despicable and I hope the mother/grandmother successfully sues all concerned . America is one big third world country in so many areas. I should know, I have lived in both places.

"If the police killed my daughter, I want to know. If the hospital is at fault, I want to know," Davis told the Post-Dispatch. "I want to be able to tell her children why their mother isn't here."

Ya of course.. $$$$$ is what its all about these days. Were in a sue happy world. Any freebies out there people will try their best to get it. Sad event, but no doubt it will be some race card that is pulled or some other thing. Blood clots are hard to find sometimes. Going to jail probably was the best thing for the woman, because then she would be taken care of to a certain extent. Better than living off the streets.

She wasn't allowed in her mother's home AFTER the children were placed with the grandmother. I think a good question is....why weren't the ALL staying with mother instead of a feces infested, charred house? Who would let their daughter and grandchildren live in conditions like that?

Sadly, there are lots and lots of people/families like this in our society today and we simply can't save them all unless we go into full socialism mode. I feel bad for her, but am not going to impune the hospital or police department because they didn't order up a full battery of tests. If one of my own kids complained of a sprained ankle I wouldn't expect the hospital to order up a huge battery of tests just in case they happened to have small blood clots. On one hand we complain about the cost of healthcare and unnecessary tests, yet on the other hand we throw a fit when someone dies because no one did enough tests... Medicine is not an exact science, people. Doctors do the best they can, but they do have constraints in terms of cost, time, and knowledge. And the fact is, every one of us reading this will someday die. No one has figured out how to make it out alive yet!

Not so long ago there was a woman in the news who shoot up DSHS in her state cause she was denied foodstamps… she killed herself and one of her children, the other was shot but survived. She was living in a trailer with no power or electricity. This woman was white. Tragedy does not have race.

As for those programs, you all talk about. It is harder than you think to get help from them. And there is a waiting period for some of that help.

I am white and mental ill and pretty much unemployable cause of my bad back. I have tried to get on a lot of those program before I got on SSA and there are standards you have to meet that a lot of times I could not. If not for my uncle, my kids would have been taken from me years ago because I would have been homeless.

One time I needed help I need to be locked up cause I was not in a good state of mind. I went to the ER and they denied me, they tried to send me home. Until I was told that I would get the help that I needed I also complained rather loudly. I had to be sent to another hospital to get the help I needed. And at that time I was insured.

So yes, there are program that do help the poor and the mentally ill but they cannot and do not help everyone. I am sorry that this woman did not have the family support that I had or she may have been alive today.

You ask why the mother didn’t offer her shelter. How do you know she didn’t? Do you know that most homeless people living on the streets have family members who would take them in if they would accept? The poor woman had mental problems. The mother probably went through hell with her. As a result, they probably didn’t get along. That doesn’t mean they didn’t love each other.

She most likely wanted independence from her mother, to live in peace with her children. Her mental condition probably made her unaware of the potential danger her children were in as her living situation deteriorated. The healthy among us would have suck it up and ask mom for help if only for our children’s sake. I will guarantee you that the only reason she accepted to give custody of her children to her mother is because she was told that she had no choice; that the alternative would be to place them in foster care with strangers.

The question is why was she homeless? It doesn’t look like she chose to be homeless. She held a job before and tried to care for her kids. She needed help --with shelter, mental health counseling and treatment. Her mother obviously doesn’t have the means to help her in that capacity. Why wasn’t she been helped by social services?

As for her death, that should NEVER have happened. She was neglected and mistreated by the hospital because she had no insurance. The police was only doing its job. The hospital should be sued big time. An example should be made of them.

Tawd, you have no right to free speech here. MSNBC is not the government. MSNBC has every right to have the collapse function because they are giving you the privilege to post here by having this message board in the first place. They have no obligation to even have this here.

Interesting, though, that those who scream the loudest in decrying censorship are the ones most eager to collapse posts airing opinions different from their own. Only on liberal campuses do the voices of opposition get shouted off the stage. Conservatives are much more likely to disagree politely.

The fact she was homeless is really immaterial, as she was still a human, and as such deserved humane treatment.

The police really should not be liable, as they were only acting AFTER a medical professional rendered his opinion. They met their legal minimum liability requirement.

However, the Doctor and Hospital (s) who have the orders and rendered the medical decisions should have their dairy-airs sued off for multiple violations, including their oath. "Do No Harm" was grossly ignored. While possibly being hard to diagnose, she was obviously in a great deal of pain.

As a person who works at times, around many injured and even dead, I absolutely HATE seeing people in pain. As a person who now must live in extreme pain, I know the horror of feeling tormented. This women, if nothing else, deserved to at a MINIMUM receive something to help her with the pain, while other tests were run. When a doctor ignores a patient in extreme pain, they are acting without conscious.

This attitude from doctors, comes from having to deal with drug abusers coming into the ER looking for a quick fix. This in turns makes them doubt every person who is actually hurting. As such, it is hard to get relief given to you, from an ER. I understand the need to not give junkies drugs, but if only one in ten are really in severe pain, then it is still worth it to help that one person.

Relieving the pain might not save a person, but it sure makes a difference on how a person spends their last moments here with us.

Hopefully the family of this woman will be well compensated (as if money can replace such a beautiful human life). Doctors pay good money for malpractice insurance, so I sincerely hope their premiums are paid up.

What stands out to me are the comments here. While I agree that the article pretty much says that it was CPS's decision that prevented the mom from staying where the children now reside, I don't agree with the mindless collapsing of comments because someone was mistaken. Too many of you abuse that option. Let's see if Sally or Tyler will uncollapse some of these. The comments are neither inflammatory nor of no value, simply because someone is wrong.

Healthcare is too important to be left to the freemarket. We're better than this.

StateAtty - oh please. She wasn't uninsured, she had medicaid, a fact being left out of most mainstream news outlets trying to cash in on the supreme court weighing in on ACA. Obamacare has nothing to do with this. It wouldn't have changed this woman's outcome or the treatment she was provided. Do more research on the case and you'll find she was given painkillers at the first hospital she went to. She visited 3 hospitals finally ended up at St Mary's. The doctor's were right to be suspicious as hospital hopping is a marker for drug seeking behavior. However, she did have ultrasounds taken of her legs that did not reveal any clots. Sometimes people die. Shocker.

The way I read the article says that there are three key words here that the treating facility ignored and failed miserably on. It's what is known as Ethical Standards of Care! This sounds like a typical cash strapped inner city hospital that did not want to spend the money that they felt that they probably would not get reimbursed for. They most likely just did an x-ray of her foot, said she was fine, gave her something for pain, and tried to send her on her way. The bureaucrats running the facility are trying to evade responsibility for lack of sufficient care and to justify their actions in not doing so.

Xina (#1.66): I am appalled at your post. The way she treated her kids? How would you know anything about that? You have no clue what all of the circumstances were surrounding the situation. You also clearly know nothing about what it is like to be in circumstances such as hers or how difficult it really can be to receive help. How do you know she wasn't trying to get help for them, or that despite the lack of electricity and running water that she wasn't doing the best she could for them? Staying put, they at least had a roof over their heads. This woman lost absolutely everything in a very short time span. There are many homeless families, with good parents, who have found themselves as such because of similar events. Does that mean their children should be removed from them as well? If CPS viewed this woman the same way that you seem to, it wouldn't take as much as it should to remove her children from her after all. To call her a piece of garbage and say her kids are better off now that she's dead is quite a stretch and wildly inappropriate.

but every one of us is murdering thousands of people every day by not supporting health care.

...because you see, people don't die when we have good healthcare.

Healthcare is too important to be left to the freemarket. We're better than this.

...and so we should have Uncle Sam take care of us.

"Hi...I'm with the government...I'm here to help :)" Anybody feel safer yet?

The article doesn't say the mother would not allow the woman to stay with her. It says the grandmother received custody on the condition that the mother of the children wasn't there. Sounds like CPS maybe decided that. You are right that a lot of people likely failed her, but I'm not sure lumping her mother in is appropriate

Why on earth was THIS post collapsed?!? I worked for a CPS agency for three years and believe me, this is exactly the sort of stipulation they routinely make. They punish parents for the crime of poverty and then make it impossible for them to improve their situation. There are big federal dollars for every adoption. They are a totally corrupt and cynical organization. Most of the caseworkers aren't even educated in social work; they will take anyone with a college degree in anything if they can pass a civil service test. At least this was the case where I worked.

COmommy- There are many homeless families, with good parents, who have found themselves as such because of similar events. Does that mean their children should be removed from them as well?

If they allow their children to be homeless they are not good parents. Period. And yes, I believe that all people who are in that situation should have their children removed from them. IF they get themselves cleaned up and are able to show that they now have a stable home and a job that can support their family, I believe they should be re-united.

There are plenty of programs out there already to help people with kids who fall on hard times. She likely qualified for welfare, section 8 housing assistance, utility assistance, food stamps, etc. Not to mention all the private charities out there that work to help these things and their kids. If she refused to seek help that's on her. And it's neglect. And that is child abuse. She's a stain on humanity. It's one thing to be mentally ill and fall on hard times. It's another to risk your children like that. This was more than just living with the lights off. The house was feces invested. She was burning campfires INDOORS. Her "mental health issues" are probably related to hard drug use frying her brain.

Folks, this was a Catholic Hospital that kicked her out, Treatment based on having Insurance. Doctors did not treat patient correctly, The system left her in ditch to fair for herself. The republicans are trying to get this for all people without insurance, leave Grandmom in the ditch to die??? No Insurance, no pre-existing conditions, no treatment period. Nice Job everyone. I wonder who play GOD in this case. Nice Job people. NOTICE; THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANY ONE OF US ANY TIME.*****************

Her "mental health issues" are probably related to hard drug use frying her brain.

What a really stupid comment, 'Xina'.

You have absolutely no idea if she ever did drugs in her life. Are you making this assumption because she's black and you're simply another closet racist? The woman had both a job and home up until 1 Jan 2011. Lost the home in a tornado and lost her job shortly after. 3 months later her kids are taking away for neglect. Alot of us could handle maybe half that stress before cracking.

But to blame this on drugs, is just f*cking stupid. BTW there was this little blurb:

Officers suspected Brown was using drugs. Autopsy results showed she had no drugs in her system.

There are only 3 things I want 2 know:

1) When is Obama gonna announce that: "This could have been my daughter"?

!) Are we gonna hear outrage from Sharptin (sp?), Jackson & the NAACP?

3) Is Spike Lee gonna tweet the (wrong) address of the hospital & doctor?

I WANNA KNOW!!!

DrowningGrover

The ER treated you appropriately; your attitude is exactly why medical costs are soaring. The EMERGENCY room is for EMERGENCIES! Go see your own doctor!

you're a prime example of the callousness I'm talking about. This woman lost her house in a tornado, her life spiraled downwards to the point where she ended up homeless! And you tell her to "go see her own doctor" and not come to the ER. Are you for real?

Learn how to read…and comprehend! That message was to Noelle who went to the ER! Typical liberal, picking and choosing which parts of conversation to include in your post. How many homeless people did YOU help today??? Hmmmm Don't be so pious!

"If the police killed my daughter, I want to know. If the hospital is at fault, I want to know," Davis told the Post-Dispatch.

What she obviously DOESN'T want to know is that neither of these groups are at fault - of course.

What are the chances that she had a condition that increased her chances of a blood clot, and could have had preventative treatment if regular checkups were available to her? I think it's crazy to refuse some type of universal or single payer health care because 'I don't want to pay for other people' or 'it's not something I need'. We could use those excuses against other things that safe people's lives- like fire departments, police, even the military. If it's something everyone needs, shouldn't everyone have basic access? (and yes, I'd be thrilled to pay in taxes instead of insurance premiums- compared to the percentage other countries pay in tax, it would be less than I'm paying now.

Maybe the mother is conservative and feels that the daughter h ad to pull herself up by the bootstraps. She probably feels that giving a handup is akin to a handout and therefore is socialism.

Touche', bonos-rama!

We don't know what her family was up against. She could have been severely mentally ill or drug or alcohol addicted. You don't know how much effort they put into caring for her. Further, what does their effort, or lack of effort, have to do with her not being served by the hospital? Would she have been treated had her mother been with her?

Brenda - possibly, because her mother could have explained that she had mental health issues as well as the physical problems. But who knows? I'm certainly not going to second guess her mother or other family members

journal journal,

You may be right, but the lawyers will go after the ones with money.

I just want to speak up as one of those who"can't go home again". You can assume all you want but the reality is that you have no clue of a person's family dynamic beyond your own. The man my mother married hasn't allowed me to stay there since I turned 18. She's terrified of making him angry and won't leave him because she terrified of being alone. I've lived on the streets because I can't stay there because he doesn't like me since I'm not his child. I've lost legal appeals because the government thinks that there is a reasonable expectation of being able to receive mail at your parents house no matter your age as long as they are living. What they ignore are a world full of ass hats who cheerily throw anything that comes to that address with you name on it into the trash simply because your not their child and not their problem even though they are married to that someones parent. Maybe most of you have parents who are good to you and you can have this type of support available but not everybody does. Not everyone came from a middle-class family with a fair share of wealth. My parent and her husband just sold their house so they can live his dream of living in a travel trailer working in national parks. The kicker for me is that they sold it to a woman who is giving it to her daughter. Yeah nice. I'll never see a house as inheritence much less have one bought for me and I'll wager I'm not alone on that.

I wonder how many of you who judge ever "seemed out of it or confused" from hunger because you didn't eat so you children could. I'd bet not. It also seems that many on here ignore the fact that she lost her home to a tornado and the trouble started after she had to move to a new area and lost her job shortly after. She lost her children because she didn't have the money to be able to take care of herself or them, not because she was a druggie or a bad person. She was barred from living with her mother and her children because she couldn't find work. She wasn't pimping her kids out or shooting up in front of them. Her crime was being poor. There are a lot of people who are a job loss away from poverty and there are people out there looking down their noses and denigrating them because they have the fortune to not be in that position.

And I have to take a guess here but since it's not stated in the article I'm thinking this woman was not on social services and probably wasn't because of the stink those who don't need them make about those who do. It's real easy to be judgemental and kick a person who's down when your not in that situation

you have yourhead in the sand. Families are not equippped with the best will and resources in the world, to replace medical care and treatment by institutions. A mentally ill person CANNOT be adequately "helped" by their families. That takes professional care and just a little bit of compassion, something our socieity is seriously lacking.

where were her father, the father of her children, any aunts, uncles, cousins.... ANYONE?

?? Just because you have strong family ties doesn't mean the rest of us do... I'm not homeless, but personally, my mom left when I was a kid, and on my dads side of the family, his sister never had kids and lives about 3000 miles away and hasn't been in contact with us since their mother died, and both his mother and father were also only children. So in my family i've basically got my father to call on and when he kicks the bucket that's about it. You shouldn't be so suprised that a lot of people have family trees like that... its basically like when your apple fell, it rolled down a hill far from the tree.

And might I add: If i died tomorrow, short of my father actually killing me, I wouldn't expect anyone to blame the rest of my family that wasn't around.

journal journal,

Grow the F up. I am 61 and have no responsible family left, save for a wife and adult son, who supports a seriously ill wife. My wife, a prison chaplain, routinely deals with women who have NO family left by age 40. Just because middle-class America expects all those family ties, that doesn't mean those families exist or survive.

In this case, there is nothing her mother could have done. The doctor and the system cost her life period. She could have been anyone. They misdiagnosed her in their rush to get her out of there. She certainly did not seem like she was causing any kind of turmoil either there in the wheelchair nor with the cops that arrested her although they had charges of resisting arrest and I clearly did not see her resisting arrest in the videos they showed.

The doctor who sent her back to jail and the medical facility bear some liability IMO. I"m not a doctor nor am I a nurse but I have spent more time in hospitals than I ever would have imagined when younger. I worked in 2 large medical facilities, one in Pennsylvania and the other in North Carolina. I was in contact with patients on a daily basis either in person or by phone. Additionally, I have a now adult daughter in her thirties who has a serious chronic illness and has had many, many ED visits and inpatient stays. I say all of this because I have experience with medical care from the standpoints of being an employee in the field and also from being a caregiver and a patient myself. I am concerned that this woman did not get treatment that might have saved her life and now it seems that the facility is trying to sweep this matter under the carpet.This woman would have been in noticeable, severe pain with a PE. Every breath is painful, lying prone is just awful and talking is done with great effort. I should know. I have had three PE's since late 2002, with the most recent one in 2011. I am lucky to be here today. In 2002, I thought I was having a heart attack and went to the nearest ED. I had an idiot ED doc at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, FL assigned to me that did not even bother to do the necessary testing to detect the clot. He did some mumbling about something and the patted the top of my head, told me not to worry and discharged me to follow up with my personal physician. I then went to Shands Hospital and they did find the clot in my lungs, admitted me forthwith and I wound up being inpatient there for the better part of three weeks. I have to wonder if this young woman was even properly tested. I mean, she was complaining of leg pain for days. A competent physician would have to at least think a clot could be a possibility. Her family should have a good long look at her medical and jail records. That would be the place to start. She died in great pain and it may be that could have been avoided if she had received good medical attention. Lastly, if anyone is having lasting leg pain, get it checked out!!!!!

I'm not defending what happened but if she had suffered those injuries days before maybe it was to late to help her at that time, the blood clots were probably there and it was just a matter of time before they would work their way lose and lodge some where like her heart or lungs, people have to think it's not as simple as people think once something is set in motion ....... See I'm not a doctor or a medical professional so I can't say if they could have seen those blood clots in her veins, but the point is, this was not a fresh injury suffered that day so the damage was already done.

We can all be blamed. We need to change our hearts and minds before we are judged forever. Nothing we have on earth is going to last we can not even predict what will happen with our own children, but we will answer to God for how we treated our neighbor who is also created in the image of God. I can not believe how many haters are on these sights and how they would rather protect there finances then have any kind of compassion for a hurting person, especially when they throw her into a cell to die all alone. they did these kind of things to the soldiers in vietnam but even they knew there were other soldiers around.In the name of Jesus I ask you people to change and repent of your hard heartedness. Ask Jesus to be your lord and saviour and he will help you to change.

mikela,

re: post 2.9

"the doctor & the system cost her life, period." What an unjust condemnation! I've had deep vein blood clots since age 21 and have been through this. Blood clots can be one of the hardest things to diagnose, especially if the patient isn't elderly. I had to go to Walter Reed Hospital 4 times in 3 days- and even then it wasn't the docs who thought 'blood clots', it was my ex-wife. The docs were watching me swell up and scratching their heads when her words set them in the right direction. When I was finally diagnosed and assessed correctly the clots were so large that they wanted to amputate my right leg at the hip. Luckily, I was able to keep it because they used a pretty nasty clot buster that restored enough circulation by boring a hole thru the clots. It was a far cry from the pulled muscle or tendons that were the diagnosis at first! Her docs probably did think she was trying to pull a fast one to get meds or was maybe a hypochondriac. A small clot can be quite painful and still show minimal symptoms of actually being a clot. If it travels, such as was her case, it can prove to be deadly. You really cannot blame the docs unless you want to assign them super-human powers. She wasn't given the 'bum's rush' out of the door but was removed when the hospital thought she was there to no purpose. Unfortunately, it was disastrous for her as her clot travelled. Neither docs nor police can really be blamed for anything except not being omniscient. It was a set of tough circumstances for everybody involved.

The were not in the ER that day!!!!!

Funny how the "family" had money to hire a lawyer but not enough to help this woman rent a decent apartment and stay afloat huh? Typical.

People feel more secure, when hearing of something like this, if they can place the blame on someone other than the victim. It means that, if only someone were doing their job or, acted appropriately then everything would have turned out alright. It might sound a little scary but, sometimes s&*t just happens.

I worked as an LPN (nurse), doing home health care. I had a patient who was in his late 80's and was a doctor. He devoted his life to trying to help the homeless, especially the ones with mental illness because his own adult son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His son would at times stay at home with his loving parents and take his meds as prescribed, but he didn't like to take his meds, as many mental illness patients do and he would leave the family home and wander the streets as a homeless person. He also said his son had drug/alcohol addictions. The doctor did everything he could to help his son and other homeless/mentally ill people. His son just did what he wanted. The doctor could not force his ADULT son to do anything! Fortunately the son had no children, but many females that have kids in this situation, truly love their kids and don't want to be apart from them, but they are incapable of taking care of their own needs, let alone the kids. And some family members get tired of the ups and downs, the drug addictions, etc. I also had a boyfriend in my early teens who was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and he behave the same way, with addictions and going on and off his meds. His parents tried everything. So, if you don't know about these kinds of things, don't post about them as if you do.

I don't know all the facts here but I'll tell ya...many "holding" cells in our country are HORRIBLE. The people who haven't been convicted of anything are thrown into these cells with no visibility to the guards except thru a tiny window. These guards are lazy and non-responding at best (sorry my LE friends). Could be by yourself...could be with 12 or more.

Guess my point is; most people have no idea the conditions in these holding cells....where most people go after arrest. You feel like you're life is in peril and pray to God you don't require any medical help bc the guards don't take it seriously at all. Yes, I've been there, fyi....got a DUI awhile ago and the holding cell was the rest part of the entire experience.

This story doesn't surprise me...sad to hear though. Dumb a@#$ guards.

...sorry to re-post above. my mistake.

@eric...

I am an RN and leg pain after a lower extremity injury can be a symptom of DVT. I wonder if anyone bothered to check for a Homan's sign on this poor woman. I suspect they wrote off her complaints of intense pain as an addict who was "hospital shopping" in an attempt to get some narcotics, and never considered that she had a serious, life threatening problem. Judging from the story and her photo, Anna Brown was a beautiful woman and a caring mother, and it is heart breaking that she went through so much adversity over the last couple years alone, and in the end, not only couldn't get help at three different hospitals, including a Religious hospital, for a life threatening condition, but they actually had her arrested for "trespassing" at the E.R., and thrown in jail to die alone. This is so very tragic, and could have been prevented with a hospital admission and decent medical care...as well as an advocate for this mom when it was discovered that her utilities had all been shut off due to poverty, and they took her children away.

KJR

Finally someone with a heart and a brain. I bet you are a very good nurse. Anyone can have a DVT, and with a lower extremity injury and pain more than could be expected from such an injury, it should have been a red flag not an excuse to boot her from the ER. My brother almost died from a DVT from a trip on an airplane and he also went to the doc numerous times for leg pain and he is not even an indigent homeless person.

Shame on the docs who did not treat her with respect.

@eric-2573068

She was exhibiting symptoms. Did you not read the entire story....or any of it? Below is from my post.

" I mean, she was complaining of leg pain for days. A competent physician would have to at least think a clot could be a possibility."

“The sad reality is that emergency departments across the country are often a place of last resort for many people in our society who suffer from complex social problems that become medical issues when they are not addressed. It is unfortunate that it takes a tragic event like this to call attention to a crisis in our midst.”

Otherwise noted as the Rebublican alternative to the Obamacare.

Sandie,

I must disagree. A doctor would put blood clots on the possible list the older one gets. It isn't expected in young people. Believe me, I've been there & done that ( see my post at 2.13)

The sad truth is that CPA does not answer to anyone. Personally I think they are at fault for this and should be dissolved and put together another organization that takes the rights and gives them back to the parents allowing them to do what they were meant to do, raise their children without state interference. CPA will meet a very unfriendly reception at my home and will never get through the door without being thrown back out unless they have a warrant from a judge, and it would still be over my dead body if they would speak to my child alone or make any decisions concerning him. I have my faith, moral, and respect for others and your elders as a teaching point for my child and if someone has a problem with it then to hell with you.

Actually Justice099.....we are not under OBAMACARE at this point, as many aspects don't kick-in until 2014. Very few aspects of the ACA took effect following its passage. And if conservatives have their way, the law will be struck down before any major function is implemented. Maybe you should know what you are talking about before you respond.

Care to volunteer to take that place? Considering your level of compassion you might just be that next unemployed, uninsured, welfare vagrant.

I had a blood clot form after a a broken ankle was diagnosed and a hard cast was put on my leg - thank god my banker who came to my home to sign papers noticed my leg was swollen - never should have had a cast on- was drinking scotch while I was trying to extricate from the cast and called the idiot doctor who was traveling and his surrogate told me to get myself to the nearest hospital

Arrived at the hospital and where I was diagnosed with a blood clot traveling up my groin to my lungs and heart - the attendinding doctor told me to write a will and I told her I was bottling scotch -where what she told me it probably saved my life

Treatment - put on blood thinners in the hospital - stayed three days - and six months of monitored blood thinners

Today - I have DVT - left leg larger right leg - had to take early retirement from a company where I was making six figures a year - pharmaceutical company where I originally was guaranteed health care for life and guess what they altered their payments

Pfizer guys - the all American company - founded in 1850 - gave penicillin to WW11 - and today are the foremost company who have cut all benefits for their employees and retirees

Welcome to greed!

The gyst of this story is that this woman should have been put immediately on blood thinners and her life would have been saved

sadly the rich can do this to the poor and get away with it...hope i hit the loto....500 mill...up grade to a double wide...and new tin foil...reuse the stuff off the bar-b-que...make's my head greasy...

To give you one of my experiences, and to qualify myself, I am an honorably discharged retired veteran. Back in 2007, I had gotten into a head-on collision. Miraculously, even though I was told later, mine or his vehicle must have been doing at least 55mph by tire tread analysis, I walked out with a bruise on my collar bone, while the other guy was airlifted to a hospital. No one died. When I was taken to the local ER afterward, they must have given me every test known to man. No drugs, and no alcohol...but I was delirious, confused...I had been this way for awhile even before the accident, but it would come and go. It was discovered that I had a Urinary Tract Infection. That was news to me, at the time. What was even more surprising was that it was revealed UTIs can do a lot worse than make someone confused. I must have had someone or something looking out for me. The doctor wanted to keep me in the hospital for a few days because my bloodwork was really messed up, electrolytes were way off, etc. However, my mother took a cab all the way out to the scene of the accident and tracked me down to the hospital. She over rode the doctor, and assured him that he could leave me with an antibiotic, and she would monitor me. What was really going on is that she wanted to get me out of there before the police changed their mind and thought of something to charge me with, in spite of the doctor's findings. So, my mother made sure I took my antibiotics. She had to. I was getting worse. 8 days later, my mother ran me up to the local VA clinic for treatment, but she was informed my primary care doctor had gone home for the day. She let it go at that, for some reason. 2 days later, something horrible happened. I had a blackout. I was arrested for Aggravated Battery. I seriously can not remember anything but a few fragments, that I can not even trust, from that time period. The local police insisted I must have been on drugs, I was told. 4 days after arrest, I was sent to the local hospital, where I spent 2 1/2 days in a coma. Later, I found out I had been diagnosed with rhabdomyolosysis. I found out the bloodwork from this visit was almost identical to when I had been involved in the accident, but there was further degradation. Now, I am not rocket scientist, but I would guess that the antibiotic failed to work. Later, after I served time (this evidence was not entertained by the court)...I had a few doctors tell me that they were so sorry, as well. I presented the medical evidence that the public defender had no interest in, to my probation officer on my last day. You should have seen the expression on her face, as I reminded her that I wasn't supposed to leave the county to get the medical records from the auto accident in the first place, and that now that everything was all "sewn up" that there was nothing she could really do anyway. She was sorry, too. However, I still have a felony on my record, a derogatory public record. Sorry doesn't seem to cut it.

I don't mean to hog the spotlight. I was meaning to relate that I do feel the pain felt by this family. It seems if you don't have money in this country, that your integrity, everything that you've held sacred, what you have fought for, everything....if you don't have money, you are nothing. I know the streotype. I know what people will say, because they do the same thing to me, and I am caucasian. I have a college degree. I was in Boy Scouts. Not even character matters, though. It is easy to stereotype, but if you scratch the surface, you may be surprised how easily this could have happened to you.

Thank you for publishing this article, my daughter lives and teaches in MO. I just want her to not go to this hospital if she gets sick. Oh, wait, she is white so maybe she would be all right, again thanks!!

Here is what I found from the original article in the ST Louis Dispatch.

Brown was 29. A mother who had lost custody of two children. Homeless. On Medicaid. And, an autopsy later revealed, dying from blood clots that started in her legs, then lodged in her lungs.

www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/homeless-woman-s-sprained-ankle-leads-to-her-death-in/article_ed640f3d-64a0-516c-88ff-fb770b5e9677.html#ixzz1qarILodD

Kinda changes the story for not having insurance.

No mention of father or fathers of the kids. Imagine that. Sure could have made a difference in this woman's life.

JeffreyF, i was wondering how long it would take for some troll to put up the race care in this thread, it has nothing to do with here color, GIVE IT A BREAK, not every death of a black person is about Race. She got care, complained of ankle pain, granted if she had insurance she MAY have gotten better care, My wife went into the hospital complaing of severe pain, they attributed it to back spasms, 2 days later we were back in the ER, this time it was off to surgery to have her gall bladder removed, and we have health insurance, So its not just ppeople without insurance, its not just homeless people, and yes we are white and they dropped the ball on us too. In a busy ER unfortunately it happens. and now i see she did have insurance, MEDICAID is friggin insurance. Jeff old buddy, sorry this is not about RACE. And sorry for calling you a troll, just tired of everything being about race these days

KJR

A SERIOUS leg injury can predispose to DVT, something that disrupts normal blood flow and/or causes stasis....NOT a sprain...that doesn't affect blood flow. Think of all the basketball players that would get DVTs in that case

If you are a nurse, you should remember Virchow triad

The other funny thing is you mention Homans's sign. That has a notoriously poor predictive value, so much so that John Homans asked that his name be taken off of it..

No offense, but you represent a big problem in medicine and are a demonstration of how a little knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge at all...

the color of money...

ani4ani. How? Does your user name sum you up? Great jail's we have if your accused of something (not tried and convicted) your put in cell with who knows who, Murder, rapist, child molester etc. I know there ar no guilty people in jail but come on tresspassing at a hospital!!! then ignored. Hope she has a good lawyer and the pond has some scum removed. Sure a Jail guard is a busy life so is mine driving big rigs but if I mess up and someone dies do you think I would get away with their feeble excuses??As for the Dr. or should we refer to him as a "Quack" hope you malprctice insurance is up to date. It was probably a busy night but you would have known that from your traing. You chose your carreer now live with your bad diagnosis.

This is an incomplete article. I've read several other versions where the treatment steps the hospital took were outlined. Among other things, they performed cat scans on both of her legs to specifically look for clots and did not find any. After running test after test which were all negative, they tried to send her on her way. After she refused to leave, it became a trespassing issue. The hospital did their job. Sometimes you just get a bad medical outcome.

I had a friend who was a patient in a hospital, who died from blood clots. He was going to be operated on to set his broken leg. When they moved him from the gurney to the operating table the blood clot traveled to one of his lungs.The surgical time tried to revive him, but by the time they found the clot, it was too late

If the woman had been a patient at the time she passed the clots, she would have most likely passed away. That does not mean I agree with the hospital's decision to have her arrested, but then I was not there. Just because someone is homeless doesn't mean their lives are worth less than anyone else.

How in God's name is death from undetected blood clots related to "complex social problems"? The hospital is using this woman's station in life - caused by tragedy and possible mental illness - as an excuse for ignoring her medical needs. The physician who "treated" her should lose his license to practice medicine. I really do wish that criminal charges were possible in cases like this, because they are certainly appropriate. I would love to see those who failed this woman have to languish in prison.

Edit to prior comment. Excerpt from a more complete article about this situation:

They found that on Sept. 20, Brown returned to SLU Hospital for knee and ankle pain. X-rays of her knees were negative and she was given a prescription for a painkiller.

She refused to leave. Hospital security called St. Louis police, who responded about 5 a.m. Brown told them she wanted to go to a better hospital but refused to go in an ambulance, police said.

She then wheeled herself next door to Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, where doctors found tenderness in her legs. They told her she was at a pediatric hospital. She said she wasn't leaving unless someone took her to an adult hospital, according to the inspectors.

An ambulance then took her to St. Mary's, inspectors found. She arrived at 11:45 a.m. Her left ankle was swollen. She was there for about seven hours,during which ultrasounds on both of her legs were negative for blood clots. A nurse said she saw her stand up. A social worker gave her a list of shelters and a phone number for transportation.

She returned eight hours later by ambulance complaining of abdominal pain only, inspectors said. She refused to sign discharge papers but was discharged at 7 a.m.

America, where those with enough money can get the best health care known to man, and the rest can die trying...

There are lots of areas in which profit motive is a valid driver of our society. Shouldn't people be asking if life or death is an appropriate place for that?

@ eric 2573068 LOL DVT can be a pain to find but the signs that she was showing says she had some type of problem that was ignored, I had the same problem before in my leg and for some crazy reason the problem was found simply with an ultra sound of my leg and the problem was fixed. you seem to be smart but sometimes being smart can get you into trouble also. mine wasnt DVT but in laymens terms factor five blood mutation. I was in the military and was airborne also played football for many many years before this problem occured. things sometimes just pop up and we dont know why. but this women I feel was unjustly treated simply because she was homeless or maybe didnt look the part as we do. for what ever reason she still should have been taken seriously.until it was proven that she was there for whatever her reason was. I feel for the family and hope that they may find some type of peace in this very bad situation.

and this would be the medical care we would receive from the Obama health care plan that some want to push through, great.

Would you like to point out which part of Affordable Care would have caused this?

Btw, Conservatives on the thread have already blamed this on "Obamacare" and said we'd see more of it if "Obamacare" were fully implemented...you might try to get your stories straight, but I no longer expect that from GOPTP partisans.

Conservatism isn't about consistency of thought or principle, it's a giant PR campaign selling policies beneficial to the wealthy elites.

ani4ani... Why would you even ask that question maybe the father died in iraq serving his country.. Not that it matters one way or another people like you think if you can find one thing in someones life that doesn't live up to your moral standard then you blame them for everything that happens to them like they deserved it. Maybe you'd like to cast the first stone.

We can dispense with all of the discussions about 'Obamacare', because she had full insurance coverage with Medicaid - courtesy of the taxpayers. Now there will be another huge payout to her family - courtesy of the taxpayers.

This is a very sad outcome, but bad things often happen when hospital workers are forced to make snap decisions because of having too little time to make full evaluations.

By the way, with Obamacare, these things would be more likely to happen, because the 'health panels' will put even more restrictions on doctors when it comes to ordering expensive tests instead of allowing the doctor to make 'best judgment' calls. THAT IS REALITY.

Foolish liberals and progressives are so inane and very short sighted. They think all one needs to do is let the government dictate every move of its populace or that obamacare is the be all of healthcare. To them all it takes is OPM thrown at a problem, not to fix the underlying structural issues.

Ms brown would have had a problem regardless of whether obamacare was in place or not.

If you where in my ER waiting room with 50 homeless people waiting in front of you I wonder what you would be saying then. So many hypocrites talking here. But when your sick and have to wait four hours to be seen because the place is full of homeless your attitude suprisingly changes about these "poor people". She was treated and released because there is sick people waiting behind her. It;s called reality, if you don't like it get some training and help out in a ER. If not shut up!

Forced to make snap decisions by who? You let people in pain leave or have them arrested and force them out of the hospital? Please let us know the details. My opinion is that the doctor and the police officers are complacent and can no longer function in the profession. The can't do the job and need to find another line of work! Please argue your point.

50 homeless people, really could you be more realistic please.

Health care in action? CARE being the operative word here.

I like how the grandmother says the police killed her daughter. If the grandparents have custody of her children now, why weren't they helping prior to this??? Everybody in my family would have pitched in for any of us children and grandchildren.

Well, this is what happens folks when we don't have healthcare for everyone in this nation. The emergency rooms are filled with people just like this woman. No where else to go. The ER's are overwhelmed. I live in the south and when we have had to go to the ER it's always jam packed with people just like this and GUESS WHAT? Those of us who work have to cover the bill for these people so the Republicans need to get off their greedy butts. quit protecting their good friends the healthcare companies, insurance companies and do something that makes sense to fix this issue. At least Obama has attempted to do something.

@neil and sandie

you guys would make terrible doctors. Your differential for leg pain is a single diagnosis. The truth is there are multiple etiologies for leg pain

Not only that, but thanks to the posters who quoted a more complete and much less biased article that showed she had ultrasounds of her legs, which were negative. This is essentially the gold standard nowadays (no one does venogram anymore), and so the drs acted perfectly in this case

Please, please stop trying to play dr.

First of all lets go back on her life story she is a single mother that was a productive women that was struggling to raise her kids even after loosing her home due to a tornado still moved found a job at her moms location. Here is what needs to be asked what the hell happened with our government FEMA relief, unemlployment benefits, and our grand medical insurance of Medicare. I am a retired veteran and have had to leave the U.S. to be able to have a job. Even tough I started working at a young age and my Social Security benefits and Medicare are paid in full. I still till this day have to keep on paying these benefits even though mine is paid. So my question is on all the money that the government has been collecting throughout the years on my behalf and all the other american ciitizens. why wasn't this young single mother provided including her children. God forgive me but I only wish an incident like this would occur to a politician so there could be an awakening cause this is the only way that things will change. To the mother of Ms. Brown my condolences are with you maam I know that whatever the resolution or answer you will get for the police or the Medic in charge that night will not bring Anna back but like you said you'll have a definite answer for your grandchildren. This is not a black,white, hispanic, or asian issue it's of a poorly ran Government where the only winning personell are the politicians.

@ Minor if you think 50 homeless in a inner city waiting room is unrealistic you should take a trip for yourself to say Jefferson Hosp. in say Phialadelphia and do some reasearch for yourself.

Nice job playing the "reasonable Conservative", Roy Wilson.

First you said we can stop talking about "Obamacare" because it doesn't enter into the discussion.

Then you brought "death panels" into the discussion.

As I said before, Conservatism isn't about consistency of thought or principle, it's a series of disconnected statements designed to sell policies beneficial to the wealthy elites.

Stop lying to yourself, America...she was treated the way she was because she was poor and black. That is the bottom line and the sad, ugly truth about this supposedly "great" land of ours.

Can anyone honestly believe that a white, suburban mom would have been treated the same way? When we face that question with truth, maybe then a honest discussion can ensue.

Hurry Rev. Al And Jess !! F Florida ! Meet me in St Louie!!!

@eric...

This woman's "ankle sprain" could have been more than a sprain...even a missed fracture..., but even a sprain can cause damage to blood flow and/or cause the person's activity to be limited, and this limited activity can also cause blood stasis making a person more prone to blood clots. You should know that. Additionally, the Homan's sign is not outdated and we checked all of our patients on my unit to be sure they had a negative Homan's (a unit whose patients were also YOUNG women... obstetrics). A positive Homan's would suggest further testing to check for a clot (DVT). Concerning your comment...

No offense, but you represent a big problem in medicine and are a demonstration of how a little knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge at all...

Seems the little knowledge I mention could have helped save Anna Brown's life...had someone checked her for a positive Homan's at one of the THREE hospitals she attempted to get treatment at. Isn't that what we medical care givers are supposed to be prioritizing...saving lives? That and "DO NO HARM".

Another sad case of someone not being treated like a human being, probably because of their color.

America is not for us. We need to work something out to where black people can be treated with the same dignity that most others are afforded.

A good friend of mine, a tri-athlete had blood clots at age 30. White and well-insured, she went to a top NYC hospital ER complaining of leg pain. They ran some routine tests and dismissed her several hours later. A few days later she still wasn't feeling better and decided to research her symptoms on the internet as well as join some athlete chat boards. Several indications suggested that she might have a blood clot. She went back to the ER and demanded that they check her for blood clots. The ER doc thought she was nuts as she was young and very fit. Sure enough, the tests came back showing clots in her lungs and legs. Her hematologist later told her that it isn't something they routinely check for in young individuals. If my friend hadn't been persistent and taken her health care into her own hands, she too would be dead. These boards always want to make a tragedy into some great social issue playing either the policial or race cards...but sometimes things happen that are just unfortunate tragedies. I am so sorry for this woman's family, but as my friend learned, checking for blood clots in young individuals is not the routine standard of care and there is no indication that had she not been homeless or uninsured or of a difference race the outcome would be any different. The way she was treated in jail...that's another story...

Direly, the community failed this woman and mother of two children.

The obvious concerns are:

Ms. Brown was in 4 different homeless shelters.

Were these homeless shelters offering Ms. Brown psychological, job training and permanent housing services?

If not one of the above shelters provided such vital services, why not? Without the aid of these supportive services tragic victims of our system's failings, such as Ms. Brown, will become trapped in homeless shelters and will not have the resources needed so that they can return to the community as "healed" and productive citizens.

When she lost her job at the sandwich shop, did her local county offer her job training and housing services?

"St Mary's" Hospital?

I do not think that Jesus's mother would have treated people who are physically ill so callously.

Rather than call the police to have her arrested, until it was clear what her medical diagnosis was and what medical problem(s) were causing her severe leg pain, St Mary's hospital should have admitted her as an inpatient. Additional medical testing was clearly indicated.

Additional medical testing should have been performed.

Ms. Brown was jobless and homeless.

Her inability to pay for her medical care, no doubt hastened the hospital's decision to give her the boot.

The "angel of death" doctor that determined she was well enough to go to jail, should lose his license.

As St. Marys hospital refused to continue to medically treat her, the police should have gotten approval from their commanding officer to transfer this lady to another medical facility. If the cops had to carry Ms. Brown into jail, then it is evident that she did not need a jail cell, but a hospital.

Unfortunately, what so many posters are saying is correct.

How you look and our "social status or lack of" can determine how the medical community treats you.

No one can bring Ms. Brown back.

Hopefully, her family has already retained the services of a highly experienced lawyer.

My prayers go out to her and her family.

Dida...

Good for your friend.

I wanted to mention that checking for blood clots in a person who has suffered an injury to the extremity and is complaining of leg pain, would be a medical decision of the care giver(s) who are accessing/treating the patient, and should be done with good care. Age should not be a factor...many young women are on contraceptives, some of which carry as a possible side effect/risk factor...you guessed it...blood clots.

There are several things I'd like to address. Rob says that realistically there are 50 or more homeless people in the ER in big cities at a time. THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS. Do you think they have the money or ability to see a Primary Care Physician? So they wait and end up going to a hospital. So Rob, stop being so complacent and self righteous. Secondly, WE are the only ones to blame. You and You and You and You. We vote for HORRIBLE, WORTHLESS politicians who talk a good game but when it comes right down to it THEY SCREW US EVERYTIME!!! And we complain on these outlets about how UNFAIR America is and how wrong this is but which one of you is actually going to stand up against this? Hmmm? I'm waiting.... Oh, for the most part...NONE of you. because youre perfectly happy in YOUR suburban life so why rock the boat? But don't think your perfect little white picket fence perfection couldnt be ROCKED to the core at anytime and leave you in the same predicament as this woman and her kids. And NO not all services will help. If there's too many people needing help they put you on a WAIT LIST that you'll be on for who knows how long. I see it in my area. I've been wait listed. I've been homeless and jobless and I'm sorry to say but there is no Knight in Shining Armor.

No Allan; this is the healthcare we are receiving without ACA? Get your faux facts right!

Just gotta love the conservative comments here. Who is the father of her kids? Was she on drugs?

Forget that she was carried out of the ER because she couldn't walk, just lock her up and throw away the key. But don't forget to go to church on Sunday and tell yourself what a good Christian you are!

Hypocrite!

Barbara stop using class warfare I lean rt and think this is a tragedy so stop judging all ppl cause of 1 idiot!!!!!!

Caligula-1763025

Stop lying to yourself, America...she was treated the way she was because she was poor and black.

Caligula,

You are correct.

Because Ms. Brown was jobless, homeless, poor and black, her life was considered totally meaningless.

St Mary's "hospital" considered Ms. Brown to be "at the bottom of the heap."

The "doctor" that shuttled her off to jail and "sentenced her to death," should forever lose his license!

This is a prime example of what is wrong with American health care system. and it is only going to get worse because the 'Obamacare' is being dismantled as we speak.

The Black American Experiment has failed. We continue to be mistreated no matter what we contribute. What are all people willing to do to to rectify this problem. Ideas?

I have read other articles with more details on this case and they all take me to the same conclusion. This woman was treated badly by all concerned. She did not receive proper medical care.

To the apologists for the hospitals, I have a question for you:

Do you believe a wealthy person, a celebrity or a politician would have received similar treatment from the doctors?

The correct answer is NO. The more fortunate would have been admitted, held for observation for however long it took for the problem to be solved, given blood thinners and whatever other precaution you take for these types of injuries.

They would not have been discharged in pain and discomfort.

Now, please stop fooling yourselves. Let's start really caring for each other, no matter your station in life.

It's funny how conservatives have no shame or sense of humanity. A woman just died and all they care about is making a political statement against Obamacare. You conservatives have shown your true colors; shameless, hateful, arrogant, prideful, without remorse. Jesus would be so proud of you...NOT.

Okay the liberals keep wanting to put conservatives on blast because they're not reading the facts properly. Well, you liberals aren't reading the facts properly, either. This woman had MEDICAID! That's insurance and she was STILL denied! The issue in this story is not insurance, it's most likely a case of discrimination or just plain doctor stupidity!

If you think this doesn't happen in places like Canada or Britain who have health care policies like the one ACA is trying to bring in, you're sorely mistaken. People get mistreated all the time.

And before you blast me for being a dumb conservative, I'm not a conservative. I'm not liberal. I'm moderate. I think ACA is in general, a wonderful idea. Everyone should have the opportunity to have health care. But saying ACA would have helped in this case? I don't think so. She had insurance and they STILL didn't help her.

sure this sucks, everything in life can suck. accidents happen. what makes me sad, is everyone plays the "blame game" whenever something tragic happens. lets go back to a time where a blood clot couldnt even be treated. those were tougher times and tougher people. our world is becoming full of sorry sacks and a bunch of sissies. guess what, @!$%# happens. not everything can be prevented.

A couple of things from a long time ICU/Critical Care nurse... who also has personal experience from ER's. It doesn't always matter what insurance you have, but medicaid doesn't help. They will kick anyone out without taking a patient seriously for a number of reasons. Research has shown that AA patients get the least amount of treatment for pain, testing, etc. in the ER. You can't fight a valid research. Second, it may not have been her ankle that started the clots. There are many things including a blood disease (that make too much clotting factor) that could've caused it. Her behavior may have been because she'd already thrown a clot to her lungs. They didn't given enough info. to know if the ruled that out. Severe anxiety is one of the symptoms that someone threw a clot to their lungs. She also could've thrown a clot to her brain. Ultrasounds can miss a clot because if it's already migrated, it's obviously not in her leg anymore. Do you want to know what ER staff thinks when they can't find a cause at first pass on a homeless person? No, trust me, you don't. It's not even human.

It would've been nice if her mom would've been there to help before she got her kids taken away and then was told she couldn't live with the kids. This woman was the victim of about every social injustice there is. Makes me think that the mom is hearing dollar signs more than actually giving a damn about how her daughter died. Very sad story, but very true about the medial. I've been sent home when having a heart attack, when having a stroke, etc. because they don't give a damn.

The reason why healthcare is so messed up right now is because there are so many people who are covered by some insurance without incurring very much of the expense themselves, so they have no consideration for the reality of cost of care.

If we are going to have an individual mandate, then it should extend to every person and no business NOR government should pay for the insurance, that way we are all actually equal, we all understand the cost involved, and we all can act as responsible consumer who, being aware of the cost, demand the cost be affordable by all. Cost will only ever be what the market is willing to pay. Right now with insurance companies footing the bill for a completely oblivious citizenry, the people have no need to rise up and demand affordable treatment. The insurance companies and even the government having collected money from every working citizen and NON-citizen for decades cannot afford to pay for health care.

Obviously, an individual mandate, requiring all people to purchase insurance for themselves would help to control the cost of insurance, because people would be aware of what they were paying for insurance, but it would not necessarily help to control the cost of care. Because the cost of care is so high, the insurance companies would be forced to provide less coverage or charge a greater price, which would only make an unaware, disengaged populace angry at the "greedy" insurance companies. We saw that in the healthcare debates, where people blamed the insurance companies and pointed to millions of dollars in bonuses that went to heads of companies for coming up with ways of securing profits. For-profit insurance companies should not be allowed because it puts the monetary desires of the shareholder ahead of the benefit of the customer. When it comes to health care and health insurance, ethics should be first. We must remember that if health insurance companies cannot afford to pay for care, having no personal interest in your health or the health of your family beyond monetary gain, these companies will either raise prices or lower benefits.

The government taking over health insurance, or the single payer system, is a bad idea for several reasons. First it puts the government in charge of that 1/6th more of the country's GDP removing it from private sector where it has more freedom to benefit everyone, and it brings 1/10th more of the workforce under the government control, making them dependent on the government for their well-being and disassociating them from the "plight of the common man". This is bad because government already mismanages so much, and those employed by governments (excepting military, because they aren't allowed) tend to protest for greater benefits without fear of reprisal because they form very large blocks of people even when not organized under a union, and big blocks of people are frightening because they are vocal. When the government is the payer, the contractor always pads the bill. Always. Costs of healthcare will only rise under a single-payer system because the people lose all control to say the thing is unaffordable, because they will be even less aware of the actual costs of care, not having means of seeing the actual cost, yet government can just raise taxes, forcing the citizenry to pay under penalty of law. Furthermore, when dealing with the government, it always seems someone is able to curry favor to avoid compliance. (I believe this is why big government is bad and why a majority of our goods and services that must in some way be provided for by the collective should be done at the state and local level, but that's a whole different argument to be had elsewhere.)

At the same time, it is obvious that we have to continue having insurance of some kind to cover catastrophe, but everyone should have access to that insurance.

If I had to provide a solution, it would be something along these lines:

1. Medicare is expanded to cover everyone, no matter their age or financial status, for catastrophic illness/injury.

2. No insurance can be provided by businesses to their workers, and any insurance people want to buy separately must be paid for by themselves.

3. Private insurance cannot be for-profit.

4. Private insurance is for non-catastrophic illness/injury only (ie you are buying to cover broken bones and colds and your hypochondria).

5. We should consider changing the medicare tax and having it go to a federal sales tax, thus opening up both business profits and personal income AND providing incentive to spend dollars.

6. Monies collected under medicare/social security can only be used for medicare/social security.

7. Cost of services provided under medicare catastrophic insurance should be monitored by the citizenry, so that we are all aware of how much those services cost, and should be kept strictly controlled by the government as the service the government provides to the people. In other words, rather than having "death panels" or far-removed boards that are meant to determine what care is really necessary when those boards are obviously not privy to the facts of each individual case, the industry is mandated to keep costs of care below certain thresholds.

8. Meanwhile, fraud, waste and abuse in any form will not be tolerated and should be kept in check in part by a mandate that congress, the president, and judges will not receive pay if fraud, waste and abuse is discovered to be ignored by them or if favors are given in order to allow prices to be artificially high. This means that our governing bodies have a vested interest in assuring the interests of the populace.

9. As with taxes, the industry should be audited at random. Here panels would look at specific cases, determine percentage of fraud, waste and abuse by the industry, and in determining the cost caps on the industry, the percentage of those indiscretions by the industry would be meted out by lowering of the caps. In other words, doctors would be dissuaded from over-doctoring for money by lower profits, and it would be made clear that lower profits for care was directly related to the level of fraud committed.

She had medicaid-so insurance is not the issue here.

However, as a professional white woman, I imagine I would have been treated differently. If I went to 3 hospitals complaining of horrible pain, a full panel of tests would have been done-one of which would have likely found the clot. If not, I certainly would not have been arrested and put in a holding cell had I wanted to stay until I learned the cause of the pain. I would not have died alone and in horrible pain as this woman did.

To some extent, hospital staff must use their judgement-some people do falsely claim pain to get drugs and people with mental illnesses may not always have the symptoms they describe. However, hospitals must err on the side of caution. If somone is complaining persistantly of pain as bad as this, who does not have a history of abusing the hospital system, her complaints should have investigated further.

I would be interested to see how often people with her symptoms are properly diagnosed vs. how often they are dismissed and later die. Not being a medial professional, I am not sure how common this is.

Is it the fault of the hospital when a mentally ill person returns day after day and probably causes a disturbance each time, to an overcrowded emergency room forced to serve everyone including people who are not citizens? Or is the the fault of the government that has let liberals change the world so that mentally ill people cannot be commited for treatment against thier will which they are not capable of having? Is it the fault of the government that refuses to deal with illegal immigrants and those on medicaid that go to the emergency room because they don't bother to find a doctor who will take medicaid?

You can only push such service providers so far while paying them so little to care for even those who should not be there without some falling through the cracks. Simple truth. If our current administration wasn't into starting Socialized medicine to further their own agenda they could have spent all the money they wasted on that effort to build and staff free clinics that would have done some good. But when your purpose is to further your own agenda, not really care for the people, I guess something that simple does not occur to you.

My aunt a retired postal worker with the federal retirement and medical coverage sprained her ankle last year. She was treated at the same hospital her youngest daughter worked at. She died when about a week later a blod clot went to her lungs. Blood clots and deep vein thrombosis happen I have complications in my life from having them when I was 22. This happens and the only true way to know is a procedure that is expensive and not ordinarily done unless you have a history of circulatory problems. BTW my aunt was white so take the race card off the table.

What is the real problem here? Well I will give you my view and will not try to force it on you like so many others here.

When I was younger my neighbor was a Senator, this was back in the 70's and early 80's. You would always read about him in the paper for the good things he did. He always stopped and talked to the people..kids and adults. He had served many terms because he usually did what was right and best for the people. Well one year I was talking to him and he did not seem his pleasant cheery self. I asked what was wrong. Now mind you I was still younger and really did not understand politics. He said and I quote him "I'm going to loose the next election" I could not believe what he was saying I asked what? How? He said someday you will understand, well atleast i hope. He said his opponent had large coporate backing, which he opposed. He would only accept donations through individuals and sometimes small business'. I said "so"??? He then said that times are changing and people don't really look at what you have done but what you say you are going to do and how many times they hear it. He said they also tend to believe everything that is written in the papers. Well guess what next elections come and his opponent's name is plastered everywhere, in the papers and ads on TV. He lost the election not because the other person was better(times proved that) but because of money. That is the problem here Money and people that don't care about a person they just care what party they belong to. Listen the Dem politicans are no worse than the Rep politicans. They all work for big business...NOT YOU. They use you people like sheep and lead you around to fight amonst yourselfs instead of against the real problems. Then they fan the flames with the media using articles like Bales, Martin-Zimmerman, this one and others just to keep you people busy fighting. I looked at my current local Senator and some of his voting and investments. He has much $ invested in oil, I then look at his record and he votes on EVERY issue that concerns oil...and always in favor of what will benefit the business'. His record on issues concerning other things are all over the place, but they almost always follow party lines. The FDA and EPA are no better, they do or allow anything that generates profits for corporate greed. Well until things go really wrong then they sweep it under the rug. I'm just so sick that you libs. and conser. like eating crap, because these politicians keep feeding it to you and you just gobble it up(well atleast along the party lines)

Have any of you people ever considered that it's time for a change? Listen I don't think Paul is perfect but I'm willing to try something different and with someone that has been constant through the years

Black, white, brown or otherwise; it doesn't matter what color your skin is when it comes to treatment. If you're poor you're trash as far as a lot of people are concerned. You're poor because you're a drug user, because you're lazy, because you're a single mom (why don't those who keep shouting where was the daddy just say that you think she is a whore who deserved what she got?), because you're uneducated. The bottom line of all of that is people believe you're poor due to you're own darned faults.

If you don't believe that go spend some time in the ghetto; doesn't matter who lives in the home-it's still a ghetto house filled with ghetto trash.

A grown up ghetto brat.

Why would you even ask that question maybe the father died in iraq serving his country..

Don't they compensate the family when someone dies in combat? Even if they weren't married, the children would have been owed something, and they would also qualify for social security benefits. Since she couldn't even pay her utility bills, that doesn't seem to be the case here.

blondeness032,

I read your comment

I had a friend who was a patient in a hospital, who died from blood clots. He was going to be operated on to set his broken leg. When they moved him from the gurney to the operating table the blood clot traveled to one of his lungs.The surgical time tried to revive him, but by the time they found the clot, it was too late

and it made me wonder if the way the police manhandled her (I watch the video one commentator posted in his comment) at the police station caused her blood clot to flow down her painful, swollen leg and by leaving her on the cement floor, assited that clot to making it into her lungs.

The police car video shows them manhandling her when she couldnt get out of the car on her own, and you can hear a painfil response to their yanking her out by her shoulders. Then did this after joking around with another officer to be a doorman since she wasnt likely to willingly walk on her own - like she had a choice or something.

The video inside the police station jail cell area shows them dragging her butt on the ground while her legs are held up near 1 officer's waist while her shoulders are held up just as high by the other officer. They do not even assist her into one of the cots, they just dump her on the floor and leave her crying in pain. 15 minutes later, she is cold to the touch, dead from the blood clot.

As merciless as the catholic hospital was, as negligent as the dr who stated she was well enough to go to jail, given her pain and inability to walk, the police treatment was callous and amounts to shades of torture upon this woman. In a lawsuit, the hospital and dr should be liable for 30% of the "wrongful death"lawsuit and the police department should be slapped with 70%, but we know that they will merely say they got the ok from a "professional" dr to manhandle her.

the Dr who released her to the police and the 2 police officers who manhandled her should at least be charged with negligent homicide!

@Merlin-420455

Sandie,

I must disagree. A doctor would put blood clots on the possible list the older one gets. It isn't expected in young people. Believe me, I've been there & done that ( see my post at 2.13)

Your comment represents exactly what's wrong with our medical system... assumptions, assumptions! Just to name a few cases of blood clots in persons under 40 years of age:

1. Serena Williams - picture of health, blood clots in her lungs

2. Nick Cannon - The clots in his lungs and his kidney failure were linked to an autoimmune disease, but still, he's only 31.

3. A co-worker in her early 30's had a blood clot in her brain, and it's a miracle she survived.

4. A next door neighbor in his mid to late 30's who was an avid weight lifter unfortunately died of a blood clot hours after a workout.

Although its likely Ms. Brown was not on birth control due to being homeless and without medical coverage (but hey, some clinics make it available for free), any doctor should know that the use of birth control can increase a woman's chances of developing blood clots, especially if she smokes and/or experiences a physical trauma, much like a sprained ankle. Also, as for Ms. Brown's case, she was going to a center that offered support to those who were struggling with mental illness and homelessness. She was also reported to have been making progress, so even without insurance, she could have been prescribed meds from a clinic or some other out-patient service, and some anti-psychotics and anti-depressants can increase the risk of blood clots, while some other anti-depressants have been reported to prevent clotting. Anyway, the point is that any medical professional claiming that they would only expect blood clots in older patients when there are NUMEROUS factors that could contribute to ANYONE forming a clot shouldn't be allowed to practice until his/her training is updated.

Except for you're wrong about one thing, OneWiseMocha- Ms. Brown did have insurance. Medicaid.

My insurance coverage has gone up like 50% or more in the last 3 years 8(

Blue@!$%# of California charges me over $1,400 a month to insure 3+

Raped by Insurance Company

Ron-1556874 mister troll, what you gonna do when Obama kicks the @!$%# out of Willard an you have to put up with him till 2016?

Wait till Romney if he becomes President. The Pain and Suffering This Country will be under for a very long time!!!!!!!!! Because what he said on Jay Leno is a crock of Sh*t!!!!!!!! Insurance Companies drop people all the time Drop Drug coverage of that certain drug happens all the time. Romney does not have worry he is having them build an elevator for his cars because he's Richie Rich!!!! And because it's easier for a camel togo though the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. The lady she will be go to heaven and be with God.

Laura,

The JetBlue flight captain wasn't behaving himself and got about 36 hours HOSPITAL treatment before being arrested and placed into confinement into a hospital. This woman was given, at best, a precursory exam, found to be non-profitable and "likely" non-fatal. Her misbehavior was to continue to seek attention, which given could have saved her life. Quite a difference, don't you think?

And let's not forget, drug companies dropping drugs because they aren't as profitable any more, but generics would hurt the market in other drugs. Or the fact that HEALTH-insurance companies use their revenues to buy interests in hospital, nursing homes, and drug companies. They say they are interested in cost control, but they are really interested in profit maximization (collect your premium, your deductible and pay themselves - minus their own costs).

Bill Marvel -

Good points. She was not examined, was ordered to leave the ER, and refused to leave because she felt like something was wrong.

If she had immediately complied and left the hospital, she would have gone back to the streets and died in them. And nobody would have wondered why.

Pathetic American health care.

and if you are rich, you die even if in the USA; and if you are in the middle, you die even if in the USA.

Laura, what planet did your insight come from? This woman died simply because she was poor. That's why she was asked to leave the ER without an examination. The "rich and middle" you so flippantly refer to would NOT have been asked to leave - they would have been taken seriously and examined repeatedly until the problem was diagnosed.

When was the last time you read a news story about a rich person being arrested for refusing to leave a hospital ER? or dying because a hospital refused to treat them?

Makes the rest of the industrialized countries glad they have a "Single Payer" health Care system. Rich or poor, health care is a" right" in those countries. Remember all the rallies where the republicans say they will kill Obama Care before it takes full affect and the people yell out "LET 'EM DIE". You will get your chance to chose in November. What will you tell your Grandchildren who you voted for in 2012?

Interesting prospect, last time I heard if a hospital refused treatment on the basis of income, they were violating federal law that says treatment is mandatory, ability to pay or no pay. The details of issuing the trespass would be interesting and if the hospital refused treatment, had her locked up and misdiagnosed her medical condition (since they said she was healthy enough to arrest); sounds like they just possibly could be at risk of negligence or possibly criminal implications involved. Sounds like they just blew the woman off. Just guessing, the story seems to be conflicting of their actions.

Laura,

You obviously do not understand what it's like to be in her situation. No, I've never been homeless, but I know how it feels to lose a house, then your only source of income. Then add that your children are taken away from you just because you can't find another job, because someone deems you as an unfit mother because of this true fact? Then add in that, after all that, you're living on the streets, you miss your children you miss your home, you miss your life... And then you get hurt and you go to the hospital because of course they'll treat you, you're an American citizen after all, only to be TURNED DOWN because the system has forced you to become homeless? Really?
Do you just not have a heart? How'd you like it if where ever you're living at now suddenly say, burns to the ground. Then afterwards say you found a nice place, you move in and maybe you're doing just fine until one day, you go to work and you get fired because of a BS reason so the company can downsize and save money and face with the rest of the population. So now you're broke with a child.. What do you do, Laura? What if, by any chance, you didn't have any family to go to? Or maybe you just didn't want to use your family? ... What happens then? You lose your kid and you become homeless.

I feel so sorry for this woman and for what she had been through while she was alive and for all of you people out there who are so inconsiderate that you just cannot see it. You all are talking about how it must be the family's fault or how she died because she was too rowdy. No. She died because she wasn't rich, she was poor and no one wants to be associated with the poor and homeless. It wasn't her family's fault as far as I know, because what if she hadn't told them? Who knows. Bottom line: she died because she was refused help and you all should be ashamed of yourselves.

Agreed BigAl......and much of the blame is aimed at the current President and the ACA, which some claim forced Insurance Carriers to raise their rates. Funny thing is, raising rates a little would have been understandable......I live in CA as well, and when some of these companies tried raising rates by over 50%, you tell me that's out of necessity? Especially when their CEOs and executives are making hundres of thousands a year, if not more......while the rank and file employees make minimum wage or meager salaries, and their customers struggle with paying their premiums and choose not to see the doctor because it might cost them more. Yeah, free market alright.....pro business it is. Forget about the average Joe.

CarsonK, if the Republicans get their way, the ACA, will be repealed. You think its bad now? Just wait!

Your right, it's a non-emergency even if you leave the ER or are kicked out, and die, I guess, from medical complications to an injury. It seems in America now it's better to white and sick than black and well, if you black and sick, forget it, well in MO anyway!!

Interesting prospect, last time I heard if a hospital refused treatment on the basis of income, they were violating federal law that says treatment is mandatory, ability to pay or no pay.

That only applies to hospitals receiving federal funds. It's not universally applicable. Because we have a half-assed healthcare system.

This is what Conservatives call a free market.

I know first hand how the homeless and mentally ill are treated in er's. After assessing a "alcoholic" that the doc's had "medically cleared", I had grave concerns that the guy had something else going on. Begrudgenly a cat scan was done and he had a brain tumor. Happens all the time, they are just malingers you know, kick em to the curb

Wow, the doctor and the police really screwed up, and they stand behind the decision. Terrible, terrible job by everyone. The administration at the hospital needs to be fired (primary responsibility). The police officers need to be fired. The doctor should never be able to practice again. I don't care how difficult it is to diagnose a blood clot, if you can't figure out why someone is in pain you get a specialist involved, you never give up while a patient is in pain. The police promised to protect and serve the community, they failed on both accounts, they put someone in pain in a locked room and that person died, they are guilty of neglect and possible murder charge. I suspect the administration at the hospital has lost all focus on the job at hand and the focus is now on profit, they need to be investigated. If you are a firefighter, policeman, or doctor, you are held to a higher standard and must conduct yourself accordingly with utmost professionalism because lives depend on it. No excuses, one wrong move and someone dies, here is the proof.

We live in the most evil of all developed countries. When will the few remaining good, kind, caring, Christian people of the U.S. finally stand up and take back their place as the moral leaders of the world? Let us hope soon, because this new Christianity in America is the Devil's delight--the kind that hates and kills the poor and sick (especially the sick poor), cheers at the death of uninsured people, hates the hard working people of America but worships the rich, and call every person in need "greedy" or "lazy" or "socialist" or any other long list of names. Jesus, please deliver us from evil. Amen.

Thomas, with all due respect, good Christians are not the moral leaders of the world. Moral leaders are humanists, first and foremost, regardless of their personal religious beliefs. They regard all of each other as brothers and sisters, regardless of differences. What you said smacks of the evil brand of "new Christianity" that you speak of. Religion shouldn't cause division, it should create harmony. When it's creating division, its adherents need to take a hard look at why that is and take responsibility for it.

Otherwise, you were pretty much spot on. Perhaps what you meant is that the good and kind Christians who follow Christs example should stand up and publicly denounce people who hate their fellow man as false Christians. That I do agree with.

... good Christians are not the moral leaders of the world. Moral leaders are humanists, first and foremost, regardless of their personal religious beliefs. They regard all of each other as brothers and sisters, regardless of differences. What you said smacks of the evil brand of "new Christianity" that you speak of. Religion shouldn't cause division, it should create harmony. When it's creating division, its adherents need to take a hard look at why that is and take responsibility for it.

Well done Jen. Articulate and to the point. :)

Well, Jim3113262, I hate to burst your dreamy little bubble BUT my aunt passed away in November of last year. My bother and sister took her to the ER in a beautiful hospital located near her. She was 90 and her back was broken in two places. She had insurance and was medium wealthy. The ER doc walked into the room and the first words out of her mouth were "Well you will NOT be admitted into this hospital today." To make a long story short my brother rushed around and found a care center that would accept her. It was a weekend and the care center told her the doctor would be in on Monday. They got her all set up and the doctor came in on Monday and WAS INCENSED that she was turned away from the ER when she was clearly dying. Luckily my sister was an RN and understood what was happening. My aunt was sent BACK to the hospital accompanied by a letter stating what had happened to her on Saturday in the ER. It made no difference to the woman doctor in the ER even when my aunt managed to raise herself up on her elbow and ask the woman if she wanted her write a check! Folks, pay attention because this was bad enough but could have been much worse if my sister and brother had not been there. My aunt would have been booted out of the hospital and died on the street AND SHE HAD INSURANCE AND MONEY!

the Republican controlled scotus will kick health care for the poor and middle class under the bus ..get ready for the rate increases and lets not forget to blame Obama .

thomas .. Jen ...thank you

I bet if Obama had another daughter, it would look like Anna.

She would and what's wrong with that...

This is one of the saddest, most disgusting things I have ever heard and the comments are about as sickening. What is wrong with people. Believe it or not, she was human and had feelings just like everyone else. It is a sad state of affairs that this happened. First of all, we should all be able to get medical care if we need it. It is 2012 and I can't believe that there are still homeless people when there is so much money on wallstreet, the election campaigns, etc. Dick DEVIL INCARNATE cheney got a new heart. Give me a break. And for those of you slamming the PRESIDENT, he is trying to alleviate just this type of NEGLECT. And that is what it is NEGLECT of another human SOUL. Period. He is trying but the Narcissistic GOP won't let him do anything. I am sick to death of the narcissistic greed in the country. Karma is very real and the Doctor that had her arrested...I hope he feels the same pain she did. Those repubs that say they are christian are giving a bad name to the religion and I am sick of it. We are all human beings. 99.9% the same genetically. Do unto others...anyone ever heard that one? Those of you making sick, derogatory comments will get yours one day. How dare you even joke about this situation? Sick.

This is so sad. Sad for her and for us. This lady was a product of our economy. Whats even sadder is that nothing will be done to prevent it from happening again. Tomorrow, some other news will take her place and we will forget. This world that we now live in is hard and forgetful. Our society would rather pay millions of dollars to professional football players and basketball players rather than help the financially destitute. Her story is only a reflection of who we truely have become. We failed her and we will continue to fail others until we get our priorities straight.

AMAZING that she was "homeless" and had no family till she dies and then suddenly her family who couldn't give her a home or ensure her care gets a lawyer to sue for wrongful death so they can profit. With family like that who needs enemies???

Xina.............the best way I know of to learn compassion is to experience a situation first handed. Hopefully this will never be you, you will never have to depend on the kindness of others while your life is spiraling out of controle. Hopefully, God isn't listening.

bull @!$%# she should have never been released from the hospital hold these people accountable i hope they get what they deserve

debcal7 - How do you know I haven't experienced it first hand? For you're information I've been in situations where I was poor and nearly homeless. I've gone to the food pantry so I wouldn't be hungry. I've applied for food stamps. I've slept on the floor of a 3 bedroom apartment that had 10 people living in it. In Vermont. In Winter. Yet somehow I managed not to poop on the floor and make campfires in the livingroom. There's no reason for that.

@xina. You are absolutely correct. You bleeding hearts out there need to check your facts before you make your assine comments. I realize you libs find this hard to believe but this isn't UTOPIA we live in. Sh-t Happens!

Xina. you are so not awesome.....Where is your compassion for this poor woman? I see by your post that you also judge the poor. Sure she went to 3 different hospitals, so doesn't that tell you that even though the tests came back negative that there had to be something wrong otherwise why would she waste time going to the hospital and waiting a long time to be seen by a doctor. If they couldn't find anything, then they should have admitted her until they did found the problem, after all even though the blood clots couldn't be seen in these tests, I'm sure eventually they would have showed on tests because they don't just go away. You obviously think homeless people are only out to get what they can, attention or as you say, drugs.

How do you know if she was properly examined by any of those hospitals? Junkies going to hospitals to get a fix is no justification to deny them fair and humane medical care. Putting her out without accessing her properly was a hasty decision, one that contributed to her untimely death. Yes, they will all draw up bogus medical charts and documents to convey that their examinations were thorough. This is always done after the fact. where is her medical documents, and if they did do these things surely those records followed her to the jail that they released her to die in? America's growing colder by the day, so cold hearted that summer had to be extended through Winter and Fall. At some point people will make a stand against this sick tradition of inhumanity.

St. Mary's.

Best health care you can pray for.

Xina: yours and lckmiblls comments are the only ones that make any sense. I dont remember reading anywhere in the constitution that we have the right to free health care.

it is bad that a mom has died and if she lived in Canada what dose that say about us in the USA

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Just curious, what does promoting "general Welfare" mean to the right?

We all pay for the uninsured now, in a haphazard, inefficient way that creates inhumane circumstances based on prejudice and who is "worthy". In a universal type system, those inequities are less. Still not perfect, but most definitely less. When you compare our costs of healthcare to say, Germany, it is astounding how much we are being ripped off.

in Canada she would have gotten taken care of

I'm so glad people don't bother to read the entire article before they comment on it. It very clearly says that she was examined.

"St. Mary's Health Center says its staff followed medical guidelines and performed appropriate tests." My question is where was the family in all this? She was still homeless, so they obviously weren't giving her any money, but now they are going to profit from her death. Wonderful people! I'm sorry that she died, but for those of you who have been to an ER, they aer overbooked, overworked, and are doing the best that they can. If they don't find anything wrong, there is no reason for them to keep someone in the hospital. She apparently had a history of mental illness and may have been saying some crazy things. We don't know the entire situation. I'm glad people are so glad to jump on the media spun bandwagon and immediately call for blood from St. Mary's. This is just a way for people to get some money without having to work for it.

blondeness032,

I read your comment 3.30

I had a friend who was a patient in a hospital, who died from blood clots. He was going to be operated on to set his broken leg. When they moved him from the gurney to the operating table the blood clot traveled to one of his lungs.The surgical time tried to revive him, but by the time they found the clot, it was too late

Comment 3 has been collapsed, so I shall respond to it here.

It made me wonder if the way the police manhandled her (I watched the video of her being removed from the hospital, transported to the police station and dumped like a sack of garbage into her cell that one commentator posted in his comment) at the police station caused her blood clot to flow down her painful, swollen leg and by leaving her on the cement floor, assited that clot to making it into her lungs.

The police car video shows them manhandling her when she couldnt get out of the car on her own, and you can hear a painfil response to their yanking her out by her shoulders. Then did this after joking around with another officer to be a doorman since she wasnt likely to willingly walk on her own - like she had a choice or something.

The video inside the police station jail cell area shows them dragging her butt on the ground while her legs are held up near 1 officer's waist while her shoulders are held up just as high by the other officer. They do not even assist her into one of the cots, they just dump her on the floor and leave her crying in pain. 15 minutes later, she is cold to the touch, dead from the blood clot.

As merciless as the catholic hospital was, as negligent as the dr who stated she was well enough to go to jail, given her pain and inability to walk, the police treatment was callous and amounts to shades of torture upon this woman. In a lawsuit, the hospital and dr should be liable for 30% of the "wrongful death"lawsuit and the police department should be slapped with 70%, but we know that they will merely say they got the ok from a "professional" dr to manhandle her.

the Dr who released her to the police and the 2 police officers who manhandled her should at least be charged with negligent homicide!

Lckmibll's you are one SICK, SADISTIC, DISGUSTING person. Blaming LIBERALS for your OWN SHORTCOMINGS. But then again the REPUBLICAN of dealing with POVERTY is to charge them with some "crime" so they can go into the PRIVITIZED REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED PRISON SYSTEM.

PS. These "officers" should be charged with MURDER!!

I don't understand why everyone keeps trying to make this about her being poor. She had a blood clot that traveled to her lungs. It's called a pulmonary embolism. People who get these have a death rate of about 30%. That means whether she was poor, middle class, or rich she only had a 70% chance of surviving it. Those odds aren't very good.

ps: given the hospital's claim that they had "run all the necessary tests" and she was fine ... yet died within 15 minutes of being incarcerated for tresspassing on that very same hospital grounds .... what does that tell you about the incompetence of that hospital? No Drs need respond since they will obviously merely defend the "hand that feeds them" .... the hospital/s that do/es this sh!t against human beings.

St Mary's hospital ... a catholic institution ... save the fetus, screw the ones already born. Why are they so anti-abortion and at the same time so greedily anti-life already born, regardless of age? If human life is so priceless, why do they treat it so mercilessly to deny life saving medical treatment to those who can not afford it?

Too Often People Like Xena ,who says she's awesome & Suseq1591, think that they are above the realms of anything life changing & dramatic ever happening to them, or perhaps, their status makes them feel that they are better than the rest of us.

This sense of delusion & disconnection tends to shine a sad light on how insensitive some of us are as human beings, in part by their false sense of security. They too have human vulnerabilities ,but fortunately for them, at this point haven't experienced such a dilemma that confronts them.

And trust me, there are circumstances & odd events that happen all too often, that money can't or never will be able to buy or resolve the matter at hand nor will substitute for a shoulder to lean or cry on or a friend to talk to or something as simple as a hug or be held by the comfort of someone who genuinely cares. We should forgive those, for they truly ,know not what say.

Its worth noting however, in reality, everyone human in life needs help, the essence of our worlds revolves around the intrinsic nature of collectiveness.

. This is why we have teams and a workforce or a network, these groups define who we are. And for the record in most instances,the good in the majority of us usually prevails the

small narcissistic band of individuals like Xena & Suseq1591. Their pervasive demeanor has a way of being greeted one day, I would imagine with a calamity (not that I wish one on them) that lets hope they will be prepared for. That said, It just makes you a wiser & more compassionate person that knows the difference.

steven5846-

In Canada she would have been taken care of? I've got family and friends who are Canadian and have issues with that system- long waits to get seen by a doc, etc. Their system isn't perfect either. And you know what else, steven? She had insurance. This is not an insurance issue.

America decided it needed fire PROTECTION more than it needed insurance thus we had FIRE DEPT's.

We needed protection from scoflaws & criminal acts so we had POLICE dept's instead of insurance.

We have universal clean drinking water because we wanted it AND needed it, just like basic education .

WE, the PEOPLE can have ANYTHING we demand of our REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT , watermelon, chicken, free highways, health care, education to Masters Degree...puppies or a job... all we have to do is PAY THE PRICE by paying taxes. When 300 million people buy something as a whole, they get a discount...why are the cheerleaders of big business & oil so ignorant of basic business practices ?

There are only 2 alternatives....stupidity or ignorance ?

What BHO needs to do is declare WAR on ignorance & stupidity...that will drive the Right completely crazy claiming he is brainwashing them unwillingly with community organizing skills & ideas !!

I fear that as the US experiences the new global economy we will have a portion of the population left behind. Dickensian conditions will prevail. In another generation we will look more like Rio does now. An enclave of super rich living opulent lifestyles surrounded by walls and out side the walls is abject poverty as far as the eye can see. But so far in the US, most of the people heading for poverty still believe that trickle down works, and if they please their master the master will give them what they need. We already see video of people being beaten by robbers or gangs while other neighbors stand by and do nothing. One day you will see video of dead people in the street with others stepping around them. We got spiritually and intellectually poor before the economy collapsed. IT is why the economy collapsed. The theory during the Clinton years was the US will automatically always be strong, so it's OK to give our wealth away, give away our techonology, export the jobs, educate foreigners before citizens, open the borders and look after foreigners and generally expand LBJ's great society plan to the entire world. Result: we cannot take care of ourselves anymore. But because we are uneducated as to history, civics and socio-economics, we continue to take care of the top 1% hoping for trickle down, we continue to worry about the 5 billion of the world's poor before we worry about the 50 million American poor. I fear this is not the last such story we will read.

no offense, but the ER should have looked at her. My grandfather died because of a blood clot that was in the leg went to his lungs after an operation; he was on blood thinners and they forgot to put him in them again. He went in for simple pain. A sprained ancle does not cause someone to moan in pain forever; I know I have had my fair share of them. I think this is a wrongful death because the ER refused to look at her. Within every hospital I have been in, you, the patient, has THE RIGHT to be seen, REGARDLESS of having the money to pay. Apparently they neglected her. To the grandmother taking care of her kids: sue the hospital and keep the settlement money for her kids. At least she would have been able to help provide for them through her death.

your mean let it be your family

The Hospital in this instance was wrong and made an extremely poor choice and thus should be held responsible for this woman's death. And the Dr. or PA who potentially treated this woman breached their vow and ethics took prior to being given a license to treat----and by doing so they caused a death.

They don't deserve to be in the position of DR or PA, for they failed miserably in this instance.

For those of you who are saying "where was her family?" FYI this young woman's mother took her grandkids in since her daughter was homeless and was told her daughter couldn't stay in the same house as the kids. Read your stories people.

That is PURE BULL$HIT!!!!! What the hell else was this woman supposed to do? ...and that f@cken doctor had her arrested!!!!!

It sounds like she was doing all she could do -how many people could have said that considering the events that transpired before her death! This is really a sick, disgusting and despicable tragedy. By everyone involved ---The hospital!!! The doctor the police!!! and social services!!!

To Sugar1954... I think people are asking where was her family before the mother had to take the kids...after the tornado and losing her job.

While I'm extremely sorry for the family, I don't understand why the family didn't step in and help sooner. Why didn't the mother take the mom and kids in, after the mom lost her job? Why did social services need to step in before the Grandmother helped? It's a very sad story, but if she was treated for a sprained ankle and released, then the hospital was not responsible.

Our doctors are overworked. I fell 3 weeks ago completely on my right side. I'm no little women. My whole weight came down on that arm. I did the same thing outside of an ER several years back and I fractured my Rotator Cuff and tore some muscle which I had to get surgery. So, we went to the ER. There was allot of people there and I thought we would be there the whole night. But I would say I think they took people according to whatever they had wrong with them. I felt we all were treated like cattle, pulled in and resoled to another area to wait for the next thing to happen. I was called in about a half an hour, which is the best time I have ever gotten called and sent to the next area, which was the X-Ray room. Within 10 minutes they called me, doctor asked what happen and where did it hurt lasting all but 3 minutes. I was sent into X-Ray, the X-Ray was taken I was sent back to the other waiting room for results. These doctors and nurses were just like robots. No expressions on there faces, and just mechanically walking around picking up the next person and so on. I'll tell you, my imagination was really out there. But this is how I was looking at it. I don't want to beat up on doctors or nurses in general because I have had great people out there taking excellent care of me. But are ER'S doctors and nurses need a little more humanization to those people who go to them for help. They need to listen more carefully what these people tell them is wrong and open there medical minds to like this poor girl, she has a sprained ankle and pain in her leg. Other things can be amidst here, I think we should ask her more questions or check a couple other things out ? I don't even want to hear anything about money or funding. Here was this girl who went to several hospitals complaining about the pain in her leg and ankle and not one doctor or nurse had any questions about her pain and that maybe something else was going on... I watch those ER shows on TV and they show these great doctors saving these peoples lives because they think outside the box, or should we be looking at the ones that they didn't put on camera..... What happen to this girl who seemed down on her luck and maybe it all had a effect on the women's mind, It's a tragedy that at 29 years old and mother of 2 had to die because not one person out of all those hospital's just thought she was a little off and just ranting and causing a disturbance ? She came to those hospital's cause she trusted the people there that could help her, and once again she was dragged away, defeated , in pain, and thrown away like a sack of potatoes into a cell. Still in pain to die. You all need to say a little prayer for this young women and ask God to forgive you for not completing the task that you decided is what u wanted to do in your life (SAVE LIVES).

Most of you seem to think she fell through the cracks just because she is poor, but people die everyday in hospitals because of human error and most of them have jobs, money, and insurance. ER's aren't perfect, doctors aren't perfect, police aren't perfect, we are human and make mistakes. Even if she had insurance you do not know if she would of lived, it sounds like doctors did run test but didn't find or see the clots. $h!t happens and no matter how much Government involvement you have or want will not change that fact. We are not perfect, tragedies do and will continue to happen. May God bless her and her family in this time.

I am so saddened by this story. She probably didn't even have a sprained ankle- that was probably a stupid blood clot too! I do think the hospital is at fault here. If anyone could tell that this woman was mentally ill it would have been those so called "Medical Professionals" and they should have taken better care. Doesn't seem like the police did any wrong but they never should have been called in the first place!

IReadyou,

You are correct in one point when you state that we will increasingly look like Rio. We are getting there fast. Go to the Miami area and you see it already.

There are a number of reasons, but the single biggest reason is that we are becoming a 3rd world country demographically. Massive amounts of poverty based immigration , both legal and illegal, have swamped this country. While it is still better for them as indiviudals to leave their 3rd world cesspools, it does not help our country.

While limited, selective immigration can be positive, we need only those with unique job skills.

Instead, we are importing poor people by the millions while exporting jobs by the millions. A disaster!!! This is the 21st century and not the 19th century. Times have changed and a new immigration policy based upon the needs of our citizenry is vastly overdue.

And neither political party is willing to openly address these issues.

Well crap this stinks. Around here a tornado takes your house the community helps you re build. If not everyone would end up like Brown. The hospitals emergency rooms can't keep up for all the illegal Mexicans coming in and dying or having Babies. The cops dont give a crap about nothing.

Family and community are to blame. We let this happen. People always laugh at the south and their Tornados. Not as funny when they hit further North is it?

Doctors are often wrong when diagnosing a person. Example, patient admitted to hospital for acute abdominal pain. Family Physician diagnosed that the patient was suffering from inflamed Colon and could go home the next day. Surgeon, on call, however, requested a colon exam which was performed the following day. Colon removal occurred the next day. Diagnosis: ulcerated colon with holes evident and with 9mm size cancerous polyps present. Death would have occurred within days without the operation. Good news, the original Doctor left his practice and moved. Finally closed his practice. PS: That Doctor was licensed to do the colon tests but failed to do so, prescribing a strong prescription laxative instead for the patient for well over four months prior to admission.

America needs OBAMAcare, there are too many people hurting and dying from no insurance. Hospital could have looked her over more and why were the stinking police thier anyway !! ugghhh

SCGuardian didnt mean to put this as a comment to ur thread ! i agree with u too..

I am shocked that all you people believe she had a right to be seen by the doctor even when she couldn't pay for the service. I think that is bs. Why do you think heath care is getting more and more expensive every day? I know there are other factors, but people not paying up is a huge chunk of that. Heathcare is something that people developed and learned how to do better and better with time, research, and technology just like your new iphone. Do I have a right to one of those too, even though I cannot pay for it? I don't think so. It sounds like this woman had a pretty decent head on her shoulders, had a home, a job and she was doing the best she could for her kids. When things got rough, she should have got off her butt and went down to the public services office to ask for help, or asked her mother. This is not anyones fault, s*** happens.

I cannot talk about conditions in the 3 hospitals in Mo. where this woman tried to get help. I can only talk about what happened in the ER to both of my parents. My father had many problems - diabetes, high bp, heart problems, and was on dialysis. He fell and broke his hip. He was taken to the ER of a local hospital. The doctor on call gave him pain medication - the wrong kind. When a nephrologist (kidney doctor) came, he said the pain killers were not for my father because he was on dialysis, so the people in the ER gave him the right medication. Since his kidneys were non-functional, he now had both kinds of pain meds in his system that were not getting flushed out. He was admitted, gidialysis to get rid of all the meds and had an operation. However, despite our asking that he be in one of the ICU's. He was never transferred and died that night.

The point I am trying to make, alibeit awkwardly, is that too many of these ER's are too busy to really listen to a patient. They just assume things and sometimes do not really listen. The woman in this article was obiviously in pain. However, they only heard that she may have sprained her ankle. My uneducated guess is that she may have fractured her ankle and it caused bleeding. They probably did not do a doppler on her legs because they thought it was only a sprain.

The fact that a sick person can be jailed for trying to remain in the hospital is absurd. Even if someone was in the ER faking symptoms, there is no reason why they should be allowed to be taken into custody. Sure, they should be able to remove someone, but that person should then be immediately released. In this case, the woman obviously was aware that she was still in need of treatment. There are so many instances where a person can be taken into custody unfairly it makes me sick.

They didn't treat her cause she had no insurance and probaby no money. they USA has gone to hell in a hand basket. they should have treated her regardless. I hope her family gets every penny they deserve. Hospitals not suppose to turn done anyone that needs care but they do it. but let a foreigner come over here for anything and they get free medical and everything else with it.

I fear that as the US experiences the new global economy we will have a portion of the population left behind. Dickensian conditions will prevail. In another generation we will look more like Rio does now. An enclave of super rich living opulent lifestyles surrounded by walls and out side the walls is abject poverty as far as the eye can see.

yep, its the republican dream. can't afford health care? go and die, can't afford education? "get a job" (that you can't qualify for). if you're really lucky, you can get a job licking the bootheels of the super rich

TamaraNeal-

Do your research. This woman had Medicaid. People are making it an Obamacare deal when it's not.

And while I don't agree with mandating that people MUST buy insurance, I would agree with making it more affordable to everyone. Make it more affordable and people will buy it. Signing it into law that everyone must buy it would infringe on the constitution. But that's another topic for another day.

And danwill, the Democrats are just as guilty of greed as the Republicans are. People like you on both sides make me sick.

Your champion Democrats live in mansions just as huge as the repulsive Republicans do. All politicians are out to screw you over. The sooner people realize this, the sooner we can get some real people in office who really do care about the good of others.

oh liz, neither side is wonderful, but when I hear idiot tax plans from the right that include greater tax cuts for the wealthiest and "reduced tax loopholes" that include such horrible ideas as eliminating the mortgage tax deduction, which will throw even more middle-class Americans out on the street.

and no, some Dems have talked about getting rid of the mortgage deduction, but it is the republicans that are the most ardent supporters of such a terrible idea , in order to make thing more "fair" for the wealthy.

will we have to make REAL spending cuts to the budget? absolutely, and it will have to include cuts on nearly everything including welfare, defense, medicare, etc. withOUT reducing our income at the same time.

some democrats and independants have said they would be willing to make real cuts in spending if taxes could be raised also, but the right has continually insisted that taxes be cut and spending cut even further.

huge spending cuts will bring the already anemic economic recovery to a screeching halt even more certainly than a modest raise taxes would

Yeah Brenda! Let's let the poor, the crippled, the mentally troubled, and the helpless DIE in the streets!

Better hope neither you nor your family ever has a catastrosphic accident that cost $10,000 a month for life in care. First thing of course is your 'insurance' will drop you and your family will sell everything including themselves to save the unfortunate member of your family.

Nah....no universal health coverage needed for the U.S. Why be like Japan, the United Kingdom, France and the other civilized countries.

I might be wrong but I think Brenda was being sarcastic

Works for me. It is happening all over the world and no one else cares. Why is anyone in the US special?

wvmountaineer - I think Brenda was being sarcastic. You were, weren't you, Brenda?

If Brenda is being sarcastic.... she would have replied to y'all by now. So my take she's not.

Well, I hope y'all are paying attention to current events, because the Rethug party and their Teabag lemmings along with their behind the scene overlords(the insurance industry) is fighting tooth and nail in the Supreme Court to void Obamacare. And since the judges are in the pockets of the wealthy right wing, there is a great possibility this will be repealed. What is upsetting about this is that a ton of the American people who are against this healthcare reform are voting against their best interest. I truly doubt that all of us can continue to pay the constant rise of insurance premium. We pay more premium for less and less coverage. It's the insurance industry that is getting wealthy!

So for those of you who side with your Rethug Party, remember this poor woman's circumstance can happen to you!! Nobody is immune - except for the EXTREMELY wealthy 2%! If you vote for Romney or any of the GOP idiots into office, they have NO plans on helping those that can't help themselves. The former congressman Alan Grayson said it best - the GOP healthplan is: IF you get sick, die quickly.

Y'all need to wake up and vote off your Repug representatives. They don't give a rat's azz about anyone but themselves!

It's a reflection of the Republican Tea Party's selfish mentality: You must be responsible for yourself and not depend on anyone else for help when you're down and out. You go it alone. If you get sick, don't burden the taxpayers, just DIE QUICKLY. And it's your fault if your life is sliding into poverty because you made the choice to be poor, therefore, you DESERVE to suffer. (Meanwhile, many members of the far-right-wing attends church every Sunday, and reaffirms how Christian they are).

Yeah, I read those blogs and those tweets of right-wingers hoping and praying that the Supreme Court rules the sudden end to all of Obama Care's public health care programs, as well as an end to Social Security and Medicare in this country, the death of public education, the death of Planned Parenthood and women's rights, an end to contraception, an end to the environmental movement and an end to the EPA, an end to NASA, the NOAA and the end of the United Nations and their scientists that think that global warming is real, an end to the teaching of biological evolution and other science curricula being taught in schools (and replace it with group campus prayer and Bible Study), an end to a nation full of minorities that might be illegal, and end to labor rights and sudden death to all labor unions and what they stand for, an end to all gun control and their background checks, the exile of all gays, the death of the nation's unifying U.S. federal government, the end of the Democratic Party, the end to all liberal thought, the total destruction of Asia/China, the Middle East, Muslims everywhere, etc., etc.

How many of you have ever listened and given the "tea partiers" a chance to explain? I bet you could not tell in a correct way what they believe in. We don't want to hurt anyone or deny any unhealthy person medical care. We do however believe if you are able to work , then you need to and not want handouts. This isn't a racial statement, I'm white and I had a sister and brother-in-law who took everything they could get their hands on and spent their money on things I would never be able to afford, because I pay my bills. It's people who want entitlements who want Obama in, no matter if our country goes down the tubes or not. We want people who can work to work and not want us to pay their way. But no tea partier or republican wants any old, sick or helpless person, red, black, yellow or green to go without food or healthcare. if the people that can work, will work, that will leave plenty to take care of the needful people.

well said! I just want a government ruled by the Constitution... read the Document; it is pretty well thought out, but then again, it isn't a social reform document, neither does it have ANY socialist leanings, so a lot of the Far Left don't like to follow it...

Texaspeg, I can agree with that statement about the people who can work need to work! Now what I have learned over the years I've been pouring my back and sweat into that false dream of; if you work hard all your life and do the right things you'll be ok. Now what I have found out that while they don't want any petitions on how much money the rich make, they damn sure want to tell you how much you're worth. So why don't you enighten us about all these jobs we are suppose to find.

Free market my arse, they control all of it and if any one wants some they have to bend over a kiss their arses, or it just wont happen. I've work in construction almost all of my life except for 4-5 yrs., did well in most aspects and moved up after spending many of long days of hard work. Now they claim the cost of construction is to high and these unions are dipping into our profits. Now I'm not a union worker, mind you. What do they decide to do when ask by the corporations, easy open the borders turn your head to illegal immigration and flood the work force with people, who'll work for nothing and not ask for decent working conditions.

So after serving this country and working like a dog for the last 30 yrs., what do I have now? No job for the last three yrs., age plays a big factor as well as the trade. Loss of job now lost my home to foreclosure, I too felt like everyone needs to carry their own weight, now that I've spent any and all of my savings, get no foodstamps by the way, get no welfare monies either. The only insurance I have is the medial service I get from the VA. In two weeks I have to be out of this house and on the streets, I will at least be greatful my kids are grown and out on their own.

I refuse to be a burden on anyone these days its hard for the working poor. It is a sad state of affairs when the peole who work the hardest make chump change; for people who may have just been born lucky. The American dream is not alive as most still think. As I sit here and think of the hardships I have had to endure, it breaks my heart that this young lady had it even harder.

Yeah Darrell, the system can suck at times. I've been in the military and worked my butt off at hard jobs too and been considered expendible by some employers. I have actually seen the welfare queens and their broods having a higher standard of living than I could afford and MY tax dollars were paying their bills. The problem in this country isn't that the social safety net exists, it's that the benefits for those who game the system are too generous. Guys like you and me work like dogs only to have our paychecks taken in taxes to provide food, housing, medical care, educational benefits and even cash to people who would rather sit back and collect a check than go out and work. The economy in this country worked MUCH better when there wasn't the drag on it from the welfare crowd. Millions of people who can work but won't, who then give birth to (at this point) generations of more people who can but won't work. We veterans have a different mentality than the entitlement crowd, that's why we don't like having to ask for a hand up, let alone a hand out. I personally have no problem with tax dollars being used to give people a hand up, but those people who have lived on the government (tax payers') dime for years is another story. I think that if tax dollars are going to be spent for welfare programs, they should have some VERY heavy strings attached. No more money for additional kids is a good start, drug testing or no checks is another, remain crime free or lose your kids, etc etc etc. It's time to stop the cycle of dependency. We simply can not afford to continue to support tens of millions of people who refuse to at least try and support themselves. You are so right about the age thing too. A lot of employers don't want to hire us guys who are less than 20 years from retirement. That's if we ever are able to retire. The current system can't continue to work, the money simply isn't there.

As for healthcare being a "right", I just have to ask if slavery is a right as well? Because demanding that someone provide a service without pay, or for less than they deserve to be paid is still involuntary servitude and thereby slavery.

Years ago, I had a blood clot lodge in my lung. I almost died. Know what treatment I got? I got a private room in my local 'country club' hospital, a top notch specialist, 7 days of around the clock treatment, every state of the art test available, and I survived.

I am white, have insurance, and I live in the 'right' location.

It's shameful that the care I received is not available to all who need it.

So what??? If this was your family member, would you just walk away and forget it??? This woman died a horrible, painful death and apparently was seeking help for days at how many hospitals??? Three of them??? The hospitals were not doing their job. Some expensive testing was being missed here and if she was in that much pain, I don't blame her for refusing to leave the last one. I hope the family sues all three hospitals.

mcb - you're lucky. I'm white, and the worst care I've ever had has been in emergency departments--even when my doctor called ahead for me. The last time, I was gravely ill from a staph infection (MRSA) and they couldn't manage to diagnose me. Sent me home and said it must be the flu. The ER never bothered to do a blood culture, even though all my symptoms would have suggested one was a good idea. I go to an ER as an absolute last resort.

Like anything else, there are hospitals and then there are hospitals. Where we live, there are many facilities close by but I would never darken their doorways by choice. We travel 40 - 60 minutes away (depending on traffic) for good medical care. It's unfortunate and makes little sense that a prospective patient has to check out medical facilities to receive optimum care beforehand but that's what I suggest. Get your information regarding hospitals and their ER's before needing medical care just in case.

Lee,

I have to agree. My wife has had three ER room visitsin the past 10 years. One for tripping over an Interstate rest-stop curb while traveling alone about 120 miles away. She continued home, then phoned me complaining of headache and facial swelling, not to mention broken eyeglasses. I called our adult son, who lived 5 minutes away (same distance as me or the ambulance), to take her to the ER. When I arrived, after a work meeting, I immediately felt under suspicion for beating my wife. Ironically, She was the two-county coordinator for the regional domestic violence center. Treatment consisted of 2 hour observation and some prescription-strength Tylenol.

The second occurance was a broken wrist she suffered tripping over a cat in our house. Treatment consisted of X-rays and prescription-strength Tylenol. And the same dirt looks at me. Followed by surgery to reassemble and pin her arm. This was seven years later.

Third visit was a torn knee cartilage. No dirty looks, no prescription-strength Tylenol. no observation, just x-rays, a knee brace and a consult with an othopedic surgeon. As luck would have it, the same guy who put her wrist back together.

The odd part was that the ER and ER physicians were nearly as expensive as the OR and surgeon. And the ER x-rays were of such poor quality they had to be redone. This is perhaps what we should really take away, the ER x-rays were taken on old, portable machines designed find bullets, grotesquely broken bones and swallowed objects. But charged at higher rates than fine-grain surgical quality views. Why, simply because they can, as "emergency services" they have virtually no caps. But the service, at least in this case is less than life saving.

perhaps you would like die in a jail cell afraid lonely nowhere to turn sick and in pain with the memory that even the loving kind and gentle doctors you were raised on like Dr. Marcus Welby MD.tv turn out to be part of a money grubbing hate the damb poor bastards get them out of our hospital before they get the rugs dirty evil stinking society that deffinatly needs to change.

Nicely said, mcb Totally agree.

Will you stop the stupid race nonsense, it does not exist anymore other then for civil rights leaders that need it to so they can make a living off the past.

I am white and was refused medical care years ago when I broke my back because I lost my home, my business and all my savings. This is not a black thing, this applies for all races, so stop bringing race into it. I lived in a basement for years and slowly built myself up until I was able to function. I would like to end this well but when I was finally better I was hit as a pedestrian by a pizza delivery driver that ran me over and now I can not walk. Wah, Wah, Wah. You know what, I do not cry, I have succeeded despite this and am raising a child now. I do not need pity, nor will I give it. This is not a race thing, and I am tired of people feeling they are entitled just because of the color of their skin. Get over it, I m part Hebrew or Jewish, you do not hear me crying and my people went through far more then the African Americans did, they had this for 250 years, my people experienced this for 3000 years, so get over it, quit the blame game and own up to it and be a adult.

Tbenton, you have no experience of being "African-American". You certainly have no authority to demand anyone to "get over" any life experience. You don't speak from a position of "knowing" what is means to be Black in America. You say you are White, then you say that you are "part Hebrew or Jewish". What does that mean? You say that it is not a black thing. You do not know if being a black woman did not play a part in her mistreatment. I can not say that your "part Hebrew or Jewish" heritage did not play a part in your mistreatment. Stop being so flippant and using catch-phrases like "get over it" to negate a person's REAL plight.

Typical comment from typical f'ing white guy. F-UCK you!

As callously as the hospital put it, and as tragic an event as this was, I'm willing to believe that it couldn't have been prevented by any reasonable measures that were not taken. I'm also annoyed that this article apparently left out the fact that her legs WERE scanned for blood clots but none were found.

Tbenton:

Will you stop the stupid race nonsense, it does not exist anymore other then for civil rights leaders that need it to so they can make a living off the past.

LOL. What fantasy version of America do you live in, where racial prejudice has disappeared? I mean, just from reading NewsVine comments you should be able to see that's not the case.