Jury Finds Hospital Delayed Heart Surgery Over Inability to Pay

[JPZenger]

www.pennlive.com

$1 million awarded over stalled heart surgery at Hershey Medical Center.
Man died awaiting operation he couldn't pay for.
June 30, 2005
Harrisburg PA Patriot-News

"...a jury awarded more than $1 million to a... man who died after Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center stalled heart surgery because he had no insurance and could not afford the operation... Boultz ... was diagnosed with a ... condition that could be fixed with a valve replacement..., which has a high success rate...

Boltz ... was directed to a financial counselor who told him he would have to cash in his $24,000 retirement account to qualify for the treatment or he would have to pay a large part of the surgery cost up front. Boltz became upset during the meeting and said he couldn't afford the surgery. The counselor telephoned the surgery department and said Boltz was uninsured but did not address the urgent need for surgery, according to trial testimony. The meeting ended without financial arrangements being made or surgery scheduled.

.. His daughter ... brought the suit in 1999, charging the hospital's refusal to schedule surgery contributed to Boltz's death by causing him extreme anxiety."

[brainshrub]

1. How many more Americans have to die at the hands of our health-care system

The RW loves to lie that people have to wait months to get treatment in Canada or Germany, yet people drop dead all the time due to the Corporate health-care system here in the US.

[Double T]

2. The health care system in the US is in a total shambles....

and it is time to start making people accountable for the outrageous, exorbitant cost.

[Wapsie B]

3. The award should've been $1billion,

or whatever amount needed to bring HMC to its knees. And to think repugs here scare people about the evils of the Canadian Healthcare system.

[bunkerbuster1]

4. We needs us some a that TORT REEE-form!

It's these here leeches with their million-dollar lawsuits and their amm-you-lance chasin' lawyers that done rooned our healthcare system!

</wingnut>