Mother on oxygen pump dies after power cut

[whopis01]

Source: AP

A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of 5 and 20, had been off work since February with an illness and had fallen behind in her payments to Mercury, said Brenden Sheehan, a relative who provided a copy of the bill.

Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.

Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/29/nz.lifesupport.ap/index.html

---

Bastards. They knew she needed the machine to live and they still cut off her power over $122 payment.

[wake.up.america]

1. Sick!

[liberalnurse]

2. Wrongful death case!!!!!!!!!

O8)

[aquart]

3. Isn't that illegal?

[whopis01]

6. It should be considered murder. n/t

[Crayson]

83. hmm... pretty emotional reply... think about:

... how else should the electricity company proceed?

1) It's a well known fact.
If you don't pay your electrical bill, they turn off your power. Everybody knows that.

2) They send you plenty of warnings.

3) Power is a service provided by a company for money. You should rather blame the social security system which is responsible that this family can't even pay their electrical bill (nor heating in the winter probably).

4) Somebody who needs an electrical aid to breath at home?? Without a nurse? Alone?
This is wrong in the first place. --> Blame your health care system.


Cutting off power to people who don't pay happens all the time.
This is a very sad case, indeed but the electricity company is only the scapegoat that's easy to blame.

[napi21]

8. That's my first reaction too! I thought all power companies HAD

to let the power on if there was a life risk in turning it off. I'm POSITIVE that's the way it is here in Ga. and in the other 3 states Ive lived in (Pa., SC, & Tx.).
I can hardly wait to hear what the power co. has to say about this one!

[whopis01]

11. This is in NZ, so it might be different... but I doubt it. n/t

[Stewie]

22. Not that I really WANT to defend them...

But virtually EVERY time they have to cut off power for non-payment the person on the other end of the phone claims there is a baby on a ventilator. I used to have to make those phone calls. How are you supposed to tell who's lying?

And if you simply say "don't cut off anyone's power," then why ever pay your bill?

It's sad and tragic, but couldn't the family have just called an ambulance and had her transported somewhere?

[Beaverhausen]

27. read the article, the company rep was at the house and saw her

He saw that she had oxygen.

[Tigress DEM]

82. It does say they invited him in, but it doesn't say he went.

In fact it seems to me in the article he just went and did his job as if they hadn't spoken at all.

[ComerPerro]

41. no shit

[tblue]

45. Aren't they supposed to give the customer the benefit of the doubt? We're talking live & death here.

Remember a few years ago, when that 911 operator didn't send help when a child phoned in, assuming it was a crank call. It wasn't, and the child's mother died. 911 was liable.

[Tigress DEM]

80. At least call the home office to confirm?

I hope the family taped any conversations they had with company reps prior to the day of, so that the company can't just dump their own copy if it incriminates them.

Most service type calls are recorded these days.

[JTFrog]

64. It appears they did and it didn't work out too well.

"Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut."

[NYC]

23. In NY, I think you are supposed to tell them

in advance, not when your electricity is about to be cut off.

I think they are supposed to know in advance that you need the electricity during blackouts, etc.

[The Doctor.]

47. Yes, but if there is a situation the technician is aware of,

it opens up a whole range of culpability.

[NYC]

54. I agree.

I think the NY approach is better/safer where the electric company knows from the start that you have life support equipment. I've never heard of Con Ed turning anyone off, and I think they make special arrangements for blackouts.

[RoccoR5955]

62. I KNOW that this is illegal

In New York as well. This is deplorable. Just another example of the corporations having more rights than people.

[Gman]

4. More of the glorious wonders of energy deregulation

[Psephos]

9. This happened in New Zealand n/t

[whopis01]

10. which underwent extensive deregulation in 1984.

This company was formed from the Auckland Electric Power Board when the power companies were deregulated.

[Psephos]

37. However, the poster to whom I responded was not aware of that

Also, deregulation in New Zealand is certainly a different species of bird than that accomplished in the US.

I am apolitical on the ideology of regulation, preferring to judge individual cases on their merits and particulars. I see great evidence that both regulation and deregulation have the capacity to create misery. Those who think the answers are purely ideological are not so different from those who think their form of religion provides all the answers, and that other religions do not.

I expect there are lessons to be learned from this stupid action, and hope those lessons can be absorbed here.

[KamaAina]

81. This is the same company that plunged downtown Auckland into darkness for weeks

by failing to maintain the cables that serve the country's business hub.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Auckland_power_crisis

At the beginning of 1998, almost all of downtown Auckland received electricity from the supplier Mercury Energy via only four power cables, two of them 40-year old oil-filled cables past their replacement date. One of the cables failed on 20 January, possibly due to the unusually hot and dry conditions, another on 9 February, and due to the increased load from the failure of the first cables, the remaining two failed on 19 and 20 February, leaving the central business district (except parts of a few streets) without power....

It took five weeks before an emergency overhead cable was completed to restore the power supply to the Central Business District. For much of that time, about 60,000 of the 74,000 people who worked in the area in 1998 worked from home, or from relocated offices in the suburbs. Some businesses relocated staff to other New Zealand cities, or even to Australia. Most of the 6,000 apartment dwellers in the area had to find alternative accommodation.

Five weeks?! I didn't realize they were a subsidiary of Entergy New Orleans! :P

[Sequoia]

5. Wait till they get sued, and I sure hope they do and file murder charges.

[Psephos]

7. Hope they ream 'em hard in NZ court, so this never happens again somewhere else n/t

[Occulus]

12. Why didn't they try to stop/injure/kill the worker? n/t

[Divine Discontent]

49. good thought!

seriously, if you know they're going to take her oxygen pump power away, wouldn't you freak out and hit him with something after he refused to come in and see the pump (from what I can tell, otherwise he would've left it on, unless he was totally evil), so yeah, you're right on, and 2 hrs??? why didn't they call emer. services sooner? maybe it takes that long there, but still, the power company is at fault through their worker, for involuntary manslaughter (I think I got that right?)
www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- check it out, top '08 stuff

[19jet54]

13. New Zealand

CNN article says it was in New Zealand - Cops investigating, Management says it was a mistake, Government wants heads to roll. Very sad indeed...

[Miss Chybil]

14. How horrible. I would have called 911 the minute the power went out.

The power company will be paying dearly.

[tblue37]

39. Do they have 911 in New Zealand? (eom)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

40. Unless the only phone she had required power...

This is so sad...

[DRoseDARs]

15. Negligent homicide. n/t

[svpadgham]

16. $122?

That's not even a month over due. Some greedy fuckers out there. I know when I used too get behind in payments it used to take a lot longer to get cut off.

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. well, not to play devil's advocate or anything

but this woman couldn't have gone to a neighbor's house to plug her machine in or anything until they could find some way to fix the situation with the power company?

I mean, of course it's a pretty shitty thing to cut the power to someone who needs the electricity to survive, but she should have had a backup plan. I mean, what would she do in the event of a blackout or power outage?

[silverojo]

25. Do you know how heavy those machines ARE?

I couldn't even move that monster my aunt was using. I can assure you that someone who needs oxygen 24/7 would be completely incapable of moving it.

As for what to do in a power outage, please read my previous post on this thread for the explanation of what is routinely done. It was her doctor's responsibility, not hers.

[anotherdrew]

33. well, along those lines...

another question would be... the system had no battery backup? why wouldn't it have a hand crank option too?

[silverojo]

42. To answer your questions

1) No, there's no battery backup of any sort. It's just a machine that plugs into the wall, like any other appliance.

2) Terminally ill people don't have the strength to crank out that much energy by hand. :)

The way doctors/hospice ensure that the patient will always have oxygen is by renting a spare tank or two, that requires no electricity. All you have to do is take the tubing off the oxygen pump, and put it on the oxygen tank (which is a small unit on wheels for easy use). Then you turn a knob enough so that your prescribed dose of oxygen comes out, and you're all set.

If you're wondering why they don't use these tanks and dispense with electric pumps altogether, the answers are pretty simple. First, it's a pain having to lug a tank around, when a long tube on an oxygen machine allows you to to move freely about the house. Secondly, oxygen machines humidify the oxygen so that it's easier on the nasal passages. (You have to replace the small bottle of sterile water every few days.) Without humidification, oxygen being pumped up your nose really starts to burn. :(

[Lasher]

51. My father used a setup just like that.

He had one big oxygen tank that he kept just for power outages and had smaller ones for when he needed to travel to the doctor's office or wherever.

[anotherdrew]

72. thanks for the info n/t

[JTFrog]

65. You know nothing of where she lives either.

In NZ it doesn't mean her neighbors are 20 yards away.

[fizzgig]

18. that's just sick

$122? that's not a lot of money at all, i'm sure something could have been worked out.

but something just does not sound right about the story. how long after the power was cut off did she faint? how long did it take the paramedics to get there? couldn't some sort of arrangement been worked out?

i dunno :shrug:

[Danger Mouse]

19. She died less than 2 hours of the power being cut.

Seems like they tried to reason with the guy, he cut the power anyway, and then things happened very quickly.
I would wonder how long it was before they called the paramedics.

[fizzgig]

21. i know how long after she died

but the article said the paramedics couldn't revive her. that's why i'm wondering how long it was between the time the power was cut and the time she fainted and how long it took the paramedics to get there.

[silverojo]

26. Without the oxygen, she'd have died in minutes

A person on an oxygen machine has a deficit of oxygen in the brain to begin with; no amount of oxygen can completely replace what a normally functioning heart and lungs can provide.

So when the oxygen is reduced further, death happens very quickly.

God rest this poor woman's soul.

[Danger Mouse]

31. It seems if she had no oxygen she would've died within minutes then.

The paramedics must've arrived later. Too late to be of any help, certainly.

[LisaM]

20. That's $89 US money. n/t

[silverojo]

24. Truly horrible, but one question

NZ has health care for all, right? So why didn't this lady have oxygen tanks (that don't require electricity) at home, as backup?

My aunt was on an oxygen pump 24/7, and we were given two tanks (rentals, that Medicare paid for) to cope with the frequent power outages we have.

The main murderers, as far as I can see, are the people responsible for NOT supplying this poor woman with oxygen tanks. The power company is secondary in guilt. Let's face it, even if this lady had been able to pay every bill on time, power still goes out--outages, natural disasters, etc., even the oxygen pump itself can break down and require repair. Whoever SHOULD have supplied her properly for these possibilities...they're the ones who ought to be strung up by their testicles. :mad:

[Tigress DEM]

79. 1 in 4 New Zelanders go without medical care due to financial reasons

Something about how it's administered makes their situation really bad.

http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/oct1998/nz-o28.shtml

Deteriorating health care in New Zealand
By a correspondent
28 October 1998

<snip>
* The country's expenditure per head on health was $1,352 in 1997, 23 per cent less than the OECD average.

* The country's declining health statistics highlight the effects of government cuts to health funding. New Zealand has the second-highest infant mortality rate (7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births), more than twice that of Japan. It has the shortest average hospital stay at 6.5 days--reflecting a deliberate policy of accelerating patient turn-around as a cost-saving measure. It also has the lowest per capita spending on pharmaceuticals.

New Zealand Health Minister Bill English dismissed the concerns highlighted in the surveys, saying that New Zealanders' perceptions of their health system were "not matched by reality". While admitting that the national health service is "relatively cheap," he claimed that confidence would not be restored by "vague promises of more money," but by making sure the system was managed "efficiently".





Maybe things have improved??



http://www.healtheconomics.org/jobs/2006/07/17/evaluation-of-strategy-ne.html

<snip>
Evaluation of Strategy - "New Zealand's Primary Health Care Strategy: Is it providing value for money?": Health Services Research Centre, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Closing date: 17 July 2006

In 2001, the New Zealand Government released a Primary Health Care Strategy, aimed at improving health and reducing inequalities. Over $2.3 billion of government funding supports the implementation of the Strategy.

The HSRC is responsible for the lead Evaluation of the Strategy. An important question is whether the Strategy provides ‘value for money’.

The aims of this project are to develop a framework for assessing value for money, and to undertake statistical and economic analyses to assess the extent to which the Strategy is providing value for money. As it hoped that the Strategy will lead to lower fees for patients, improved access to, and increased use of, primary health care services, and reduced use of particular hospital services, these will be key issues for exploration in this research. The research will make a substantial contribution to the international literature as this is the first major international reform of its kind, supported by a strong evaluation.

The deadline for applications is 17 July 2006.

[superconnected]

28. Horrifying. They should have made sure an ambulance was right there with oxygen

before they cut her poweroff if they wanted it off so damn bad.

[kurth]

29. She was executed

for being poor:

"Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.

Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said."

[smirkymonkey]

74. What kind of sick fuck pulls the plug like that?

It's not like some big bureaucracy shut off her power, a human being (a miserable one at that) went into her home, saw that her life depended on a machine that required access to electricity and deliberately shut off that access.

As far as I'm concerned, he should be tried and convicted for murder.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. It's an oxygen concentrator.

Most typical setups require an high pressure oxygen backup.

[silverojo]

43. That's what I already said in this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2863804&mesg_id=2864221

But thanks for the photo illustrations! :)

[anotherdrew]

32. they'll never see that $122. bastards. public power now! take this power away from these fools

it's a rotten decision to cut the power, totally uncalled for.

that power-company goon might as well have strangled her to death with his bare hands.

oh well, he was... "just following orders"

[The Doctor.]

48. The company was state-owned. nt

[qdemn7]

34. Yep, that is a definite case of "green therapy".

Lots and lots of $$$$$$$.

Not to make light of a terrible situation but, I hope they hang the asses of the people who cut the power off. Specifically that contractor, whom the family stated they showed and told the man that the woman needed the power on to live. I think a charge manslaughter one sounds about right.

[Blue_Tires]

35. stories like this make conservatives orgasmic nt

[populistdriven]

36. Turning off / on the power costs them money, they only do it to punish people

Several years ago I lived in a crappy apartment but it was ok since i was out of town 5-6 nights per week traveling for work. I am also pretty resourceful person with tons of wilderness time and no power was just a minor inconvenience for me. Anyways I forgot to get the power bill in the mail and thought I had. Bam! They cut my power really fast. So I paid online immediately and when I returned everything was back on. I assume there is no reconnect charge by law. The fridge had barely anything in it, just a couple small items so I tossed them.

My anger was simmering and so next month didn't pay again to see and same thing happened. I kept repeating the procedure and eventually they stopped turning it off after 4 months. In total it saved me money. Fuck em.!!!!

[mvd]

38. I know Australia has gone RW

What about New Zealand? This seems like it could have easily happened here. Tragic.

[DollyM]

44. Illinois heading in this same direction . . .

Ameren and Com Ed are the two big electric companies here. They increased rates by more than 300 percent in January. People who had 100.00 electric bills are now getting bills of $300.00 and more. We lived with our heat on 55 all winter and nearly froze to death but we had to keep those bills down. The best they could come up with is to agree to wait until April to start turning off electricy for those who were late on their bills. Our legislature still has failed to do anything substantial about this. I fear most for people like my 80 year old mother who can't do without some air conditioning in the sweltering southern Illinois summer. You will hear more of these kinds of stories coming out of Illinois I would bet as the elderly especially, will just do without in order to pay their electric bills.

[Divine Discontent]

50. that's soooo sad!

our bill was only 75 with 2 people in eastern FL, with air on at 76, but I could imagine how high it'd be if it was 20 outside, or how much it'll go up when it hits 92 here in a few weeks. I'm sorry you had to suffer like that... God bless you! I hope something positive comes soon against these sob oil & energy giants that are literally killing people

[The Doctor.]

46. 'The family never told us', is all they have to claim across the board.

Expect the technician to be relocated to Taiwan.

If that were ever my situation, they would cut the power over my dead body... or over the technician's.

[micraphone]

52. NZ has a 'Liberal' Govt...

... called the Labour Party, which has most of the views of the Democrats.

Nonetheless, it was a previous Labour govt that (sort of) privatised many govt departments and formed some new ones to run infrastructure. They were termed State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) with their own boards and management structures - and the Govt retained substantial shareholding. All these SOEs were expected to make a profit while the competition between them ensured (supposedly) that prices to consumers were kept to reasonable levels. Of course the govt makes a healthy rake-off from the profits AND the taxes on those profits.

Utopian stuff. Trouble is it didn't (and still doesn't) work. Through collusion (like the oil companies), claims of "have to make a (huge) profit to reinvest in infrastructure", etc, prices for electricity have increased 300% in the last ten years. (Sound familiar?)

Despite being "owned" by a decidedly left-of-centre govt, we seem to just have a pile of blood-sucking, ruthless, profit at any cost corporates running the infrastructure. The power company that I am with will cut off your power if you are one month overdue. No discussion - some techs don't even come and tell you they are doing it and if there is no-one home cos mom and dad are at work - forget it. To get it back on you have to pay off all money owed and a fee of $75 for reconnection (2 minutes putting back a fuse outside the house).

Less than 10 years ago my power bill (in the capital city, Wellington) was just $100 a month. Now it runs to $70+ a WEEK. With 4 school age kids it a MAJOR expense, second only to the loan on the house.

To get to the unfortunate family: "... The account showed they owed a total of $304.40, but $136 of that was not due till June 13, leaving $168 outstanding.

Further, it showed the family had made two payments this month, $61.90 on May 2 and $45 on May 18.

Nowhere on the account he presented did it state their power would be cut off if the bill was not paid immediately. It was dated May 23." http://www.stuff.co.nz/4078471a11.html

Of the $168 left to pay, they had already paid $106.90 THIS MONTH, leaving just $61.10. That poor woman was murdered for $61.10! Life is cheap to power companies in NZ as well as California.

I can already see our polis running for cover and the power company has already changed its story from "we have done nothing wrong" yesterday to making a generous offer to the family tomorrow. Typical. But nothing will bring that wife and mother back.

S'cuse me, I think I'm gonna be sick.

[Eagle_Eye]

53. Rush Limbaugh would tell us that New Zealand was practicing 'Tough Love'

Rush would tell us people are poor because they choose to be poor. In the world of limbaugh this death has good in it because other poor people will now go out and get jobs. Jobs that will enrich big business and fuel the supply side economic engine.

[varun]

55. Where's the Terri Schiavo crowd?

Oh...they are only interested in those who are brain dead

:eyes:

[Eagle_Eye]

56. The Schiavo crowd is out trying to get Newt Gingrich to run for President

Newt Gingrich is the most 'Brain Dead' republican in the bunch

[deutsey]

57. Well, business is business, after all

:sarcasm:

:mad:

[TheMadMonk]

58. Like I said in another discussion, the actions of the technician,,,

...were reprehensible, and his employers were not much better. However, I don't have a problem with them requiring prior knowledge and proof of need.

On the other hand there should have been free (and freely available) manual backups in place. They were not there. No one is claiming a deficit in the NZ medical care system. So why didn't she avail herself of a service that was and is available for the asking?

She and her family had time to summon aid, and did not. (I saw something of TV claiming her doctor said that she could go without supplemental oxygen for brief periods.)

I believe there were neighbours close enough to run a lead to.

Other solutions could have been sought and found, but apparently no attempts were made to do so.


WHY NOT?


At the very least the tech should have sought further instruction before continuing with the disconnection. There was a lot of wrong committed there without a doubt. And it should be investigated and punishment meted out if warranted.

However, there are a lot of unanswered questions in the actions of the woman and her family and the dearth of questions about responsibility on the part of other third parties doesn't help them. Where were the backup oxygen bottles?; Why the delay in calling the paramedics?' Why apparently no attempt to DO SOMETHING, no matter how ineffectual?

Th power company and their on the spot representative were in wrong. But there is something else wrong here too.

[micraphone]

59. Just seen the latest clip on tv from news conference...

... 2 company bosses acknowledge the woman and her sons pleaded with the tech to leave the power on.

This woman, as they conceded, had a pump connected to an oxygen tube strapped into HER NOSE. They said that as the tech is not trained as a medic he could not be expected to make any discretionary call.

WTF???

She had heart problems but the hospital concerned did not offer supplemental O2, which is typical of our cash-strapped medical sector (which charges loads to park your car just to meet its budgets).

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

60. $122 the price of a life

Was she given notice? If so, didn't she try and get emergency funding? I know Entergy has an emergency program. Around here, $122 is about one month's worth of electricity--she wasn't that far behind, then, on her payments. I wonder if the people at the power company, and the technician, can sleep at night knowing they MURDERED someone.

[LeftishBrit]

61. That is so sick and disgusting!

[NastyDiaper]

63. nt

nt

[hippiechick]

66. Same thing happened in Indy last winter too ...

There's just no excuse. Greedy bastards. :mad:

[razzleberry]

67. If the technician believed every sob story he heard ...

he could not do his job.

asking for continuing sevice,
belongs in a court of law.

[Lars39]

68. He could have requested to see the machinery.

[razzleberry]

70. we don't know for a fact, he didn't ...

depends on believing the story, as printed.
not that I believe, or not, I just don't know.

This matter of deciding continuing service,
belongs in a court of law.

[LisaL]

69. It's a horrible story. But last summer here I had a power

black out that lasted several days, and I had black outs before that one too. I know of many other occurrence of black outs. Why did not the woman had an emergency back up for such an occurrence?

[AbbyR]

71. When my husband was sick last year

the electric company threatened to cut us off. I asked if it was illegal, since he was on oxygen and needed the air conditioning to live. They told me they had to have a doctor's note on file. I had one sent to them, but we managed to pay the bill. He died in August, but the electricity stayed on.

[noonwitch]

73. It doesn't sound as if the family tried to make any payment arrangements

There are several ways this could have been prevented-the family could have called when they got the shut-off notice and explained the situation, they could have applied for an emergency payment from Social Services, but they had the responsibility of letting the power company know why they were having trouble paying the bill.


The irony, of course, is that our power company in Detroit lets people run up thousands of dollars in unpaid bills before shutting them off-it makes the burden of getting caught up impossible for poor people, and they end up applying for the welfare system to take care of it, and they don't always qualify. But they do wait until spring to cut people off their gas service, for the most part.

[AnneD]

75. I don't know how they do it in NZ...

but she'd be owning a utility company in the US.

[whopis01]

76. No, I'm pretty sure she would be dead in the US as well.

Some relative might be owning a utility company, but she would still be dead.

[AnneD]

77. Fast on the uptake......

:spray: She would still be seriously dead (or have a cold in soviet speak), but her heirs would own a utility company.

[micraphone]

78. The tech was shown the pump etc...

...the woman (complete with tube strapped to nose coneected to pump connected to large metal o2 tank) answered the door with her sons.

See my post above for details about bill sent by power co sent May 23 with no mention of cutting power. Same post also points out they actually only owed $61 due to 2 payments THIS MONTH - both listed on the bill.

Now the company is blaming the Privacy Act. Latest always at http://www.stuff.co.nz/