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on this - you know, the same people who were ready to throw themselves from cliffs over Terry Schiavo?
by sherlyle on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:03:31 AM PDT
Ooooooooohhhh ...... yeah .......!!!
HA!
God those people are such scumbags. This is such a brilliant illustration of that. So busted.
I don't mean to find ANY humor in this tragedy; my laughter has a very dark, dark tone to it.
The truth about most of our Democratic "leaders".
by theyrereal on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:07:43 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
Unbelievable really.
Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse. ~ Lily Tomlin
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:45:11 AM PDT
The hypocrisy is mind-numbing, isn't it?
"But your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore"--Prine 4130+ dead Americans. Bring them home.
by Miss Blue on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:08:26 AM PDT
Yes, mind-numbing hypocrisy of the highest order. This is a point that should be highlighted.
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:47:08 AM PDT
(-7.75, -7.69) No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up - Lily Tomlin
by john07801 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:53:54 AM PDT
despite his age, his heart condition, and such, would he be denied? And despite his wealth (Halliburton money) would the procedure or his life-long follow-up care cost him anything? What the Hell is wrong with this Country to have not just an unlevel playing field, but a playing field littered with cavernous holes? Where are our priorities in fighting a "War on Terror" when we can't even afford to save the life of a dying child, or to keep all of our children healthy?
"We the People of the United States..." -U.S.Constitution
by elwior on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 11:22:26 AM PDT
Did you see that front-page diary on people being turned away from food banks? And yet, every single day, we all have to listen to stuffed shirts on tv asking each other why poor little George doesn't get more credit for this great economy. My God. These people are one of two things: so hermetically sealed into their little gated communities that they honestly don't realize what's happening "out there" OR they don't give a damn. As long as they get theirs, they don't care. And George is right about one thing - this economy is indeed putting a great deal more money in people's pockets. It's just that it's so very few pockets, and those are already crammed full of cash.
by sherlyle on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 11:52:24 AM PDT
This family isn't poor. The rich get richer, and all of us get poorer!
by elwior on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 12:50:24 PM PDT
has been receiving stem-cell treatments for years. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there's millions of nanobots cruising his bloodstream repairing all the damage he's done to himself over the years. He'll probably outlive us all, sadly...
GWB + GOP = WMD
by Shaking the Tree on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 01:30:57 PM PDT
the Devil! They're on a first name basis, Dick and Beezy!
by elwior on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 01:48:34 PM PDT
Walked three miles a day......
Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse, Imus, and Rev. Wright. Overcome our evil with good.
by vets74 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 05:22:24 PM PDT
Renowned specialists who are calling the liver transplant idea a waste of time, etc, and others attacking their lawyer's "grandstanding". Expect more of this.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Here we are now Entertain us I feel stupid and contagious
by Scarce on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:09:27 AM PDT
that is one thing I have wondered about.
This poor girl did have leukemia, and livers are very, very scarce.
What was her prognosis with the transplant?
by Miss Blue on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:15:54 AM PDT
And gave her better than even odds at a longer lifespan. Without the transplant she would die. And she did.
by Scarce on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:21:04 AM PDT
a sibling can actually donate a section of his/her own liver without harm.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
by va dare on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:21:31 AM PDT
per the NYTimes article. The immunosuppressors needed for the transplant are extremely difficult for cancer patients--make the cancer worse.
by srkp23 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:21:57 AM PDT
her doctors, NOT the insurance company, that made that decision? Used to work for several doctors..they would get very angry about "some minimum-wage high school girl" telling them what tests and procedures they could or could not run. I know it's not really some minimum-wage high school girl, but it's not the doctor treating that patient, either, is it.
by sherlyle on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:27:12 AM PDT
Most definitely a decision by her doctors, not insurance companies.
However, if this stays in the news, it's good to know what the opposition to a young girl getting a liver is going to be.
by Miss Blue on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:34:16 AM PDT
Yes, the doctors treating the insured should have the last say on what treatment or procedure is necessary, and the insurance company should accept and honor the doctors' conclusion. That should be so evident that it's unbelievable our system operates in just the opposite way.
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:52:10 AM PDT
out of Natalines death. No one will stand by and watch another person die because their Health Insurance won't cover. People will stand up and fight. Take it to the press and yell loud and long. Its out in the open and we must fight to keep it there. Now, it has a face.
"Though the Mills of the Gods grind slowly,Yet they grind exceeding small."
by Owllwoman on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 10:47:50 AM PDT
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 12:02:22 PM PDT
for their loved ones who are sick and at risk of dying to to denials of coverage is spot on, Owllwoman. In fact, this is exactly the message that Michael Moore has on his website. He's encouraging all of us to tell our stories not only to him, but more importantly, to our local media. His point is that local media totally dig the local angle, and much can be accomplished on the local level (after all, "all politics is local", right?)
This is not going to go away until big insurance either makes huge transformations, or goes away themselves. And I say, "It's about time!"
by Shaking the Tree on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 01:47:40 PM PDT
the doctor's treatment decision[s] and denies a claim... isn't that practicing medicine without a license?
I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish. --Henri Matisse
by isis2 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 01:59:25 PM PDT
that it is.
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 02:35:50 PM PDT
If they were still prepared to battle for her life, and her doctor's were ready to continue treating her - no barrier should have existed. Period.
Texas Hussein Liz
by TexasLiz on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:54:45 AM PDT
appealed to Cigna after their decision. They stated the 65% survival rate. Link
by john07801 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 10:16:17 AM PDT
"four doctors," not necessarily hers.
by john07801 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 10:25:04 AM PDT
A lawyer friend briefly worked for United health Care, and described for me the people who were making these decisions. Minimum wage high school girl is a fairly apt description. That, and a database that told them what to approve and not approve. Very scary. That was a decade ago, and I suppose that the situation could have changed, but I rather doubt it.
by Uncle Bob on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 12:25:13 PM PDT
that the "minimum waged high school [American] girl" has now been replaced by a "below-minimum waged worker overseas".
So cynical. So calloused and brazen. And to think that Cigna, et al, has been allowed the status of "corporate citizen"....Harrumph! We neither need, nor want, such pathetic and corrupt "citizenry" walking amongst us! That's why we have Laws!
by Shaking the Tree on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 01:52:59 PM PDT
Let's assume that they're right, and that the transplant would not have worked. That still cannot be reconciled with the heroic efforts that they called for to "save" Terry's life. They simply cannot have it both ways.
The money spent on bush's midnight flight back from Midland would have covered a good part of Nataline's transplant.
I won't be complacent this time. Been there, done that, got the orange jumpsuit.
by Nowhere Man on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:23:21 AM PDT
Link Cigna to Republicans and throw them both overboard. Nataline's murder was the direct consequence of using market forces to provide health care to Americans.
I'm not part of a redneck agenda - Green Day Neither is California High Speed Rail
by eugene on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:09:34 AM PDT
they could do something right now, if they wanted to. If they don't there's gonna be many more Natalines.
Let's hope this helps the American People wake up to the real Homegrown Terror, killing People in America, everyday; the Insurance Companies who thumbs-up and thumbs-down the lives and deaths of sick People.
by leonard145b on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:09:58 AM PDT
If they didn't feel like stopping the murder of more US soldiers and Iraqi civilians, what's to get them to act on a 17-year old American girl?
by eugene on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:10:44 AM PDT
(And also DiFi). Nataline was one of their constituents. Both should have issued some kind of statement regarding this horrific situation long before it reached this tragic point. Perhaps their words could have made a difference in the outcome.
by vigilant meerkat on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:43:55 AM PDT
then she can issue a statement.
fouls, excesses and immoderate behavior are scored ZERO at Over the Line, Smokey!
by seesdifferent on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 10:17:02 AM PDT
rally for Nataline like the Republicans did for Terry Schiavo?
That was a medical decision based on Christianist reasoning. The Republicans probably would have stood up for the Cigna in this case except they were afraid their position might have been "misinterpreted." Bastards.
by john07801 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 10:23:33 AM PDT
They're not on point. They're the generals....
by vets74 on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 05:23:55 PM PDT
I guarantee, the fact that these aren't WASP's will nag rethugs in the back's of their minds.
"They stick it in your face and let you smell what they consider wrong." E: -5.62 S: -5.13
by demotarian on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:10:55 AM PDT
Where's the emergency congressional session enforcing heavy penalties upon Cigna for negligent homicide?
And just as significantly, where are the "pro-life" fundie churches? Any word from them?
"Le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge."
by Buzzer on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 11:12:30 AM PDT
They keep voting against providing health care for kids. Every candidate running for any office in the coming elections MUST be asked about expanding S-CHIP, and about CONCRETE measures they would take and/or support to fix this greed-laden abomination we've got going on here which is stealing from, stressing out, and killing ordinary Americans on a massive basis. There is nothing more basic than health care, and this issue affects ALL Americans, except for those wealthy enough to afford the very best without financial consideration.
by elwior on Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 11:14:26 AM PDT
wide narrow
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