Woman on oxygen dies after power was cut off due to unpaid bill

[pepperbear]

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/woman-on-oxygen-dies-after-power-cut/20070530025809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (May 30) - 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.

Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house Tuesday.

*snip*

OK FUCK THIS SHIT. I HOPE THEY GO FUCKING BANKRUPT.

[acmavm]

1. They'd do it here in a heartbeat.

[BlooInBloo]

5. You mean in a heart-

[acmavm]

14. Yeah, that's a pretty effective way to put it.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. State-owned. Proving, I guess, that government enterprises

are no more humane than private ones. But at least the public ones aren't mandated to be cruel.

[TheMadMonk]

3. She (and her family) also had 2 hours to call an Ambulance and didin't.

What the power company (and esp the technician) did was wrong in the extreme.

Since I believe ambulance and hospital is free for Maori's (if not everyone) in NZ, the the reason for not calling wasn't financial.

Why did they watch and wait for her to die before calling anyone?

[azurnoir]

7. Did they have a phone or one available? n/t

[ComerPerro]

4. here's a tip: If you are on some form of life support in the home, pay your bills

[Beaverhausen]

6. Here's a hint- if someone is on life support they can't work-ergo, paying their bills...

...might be problematic.

And the bill was a whopping $122. That was worth cutting off the electricity?

[ComerPerro]

8. was probably two months late. Now, there are cases where a utility will

have an arrangement where they know the person is on life support, and will not shut of the utilities.

Did the family even do that? Who knows.

Blaming the utility is just asinine.

[Beaverhausen]

10. read the frickin' article

Here are a few relevant paragraphs.

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.

Six days before a Mercury Energy representative arrived Tuesday at the house to disconnect the electricity, she was $122 in arrears.

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.

[ComerPerro]

11. What was their plan during a storm or power outage? Sue God?

[Beaverhausen]

13. You are comparing that to the electic company deliberately cutting off her electicity...

...knowing she needed it to live? Seriously?

[NashVegas]

16. Why Not?

It does not, in anyway, make the power company any less of an asshole.

[ComerPerro]

17. Why are you so caught up in pretending you actually give a shit?

[Kingshakabobo]

18. So, faced with facts contained in the OP, you deflect once YOUR position is proved to be asnine....

Nicely played, nicely played.:applause:

Usually, the jerk-off contingent is a little sharper......you need to brush up.

[ComerPerro]

19. nothing asinine about my position. I want to know why the OP gets off on pretending to give a fuck

[Beaverhausen]

20. I have a friend who needs a ventilator to breath- that's why

Fortunately he has 24 hour nursing care, and if his ventilator ever goes awry someone is there to help. If the electicity goes off the fire department comes to help.

And by the way, why don't you care? Here is a woman, the mother of 5 children who is now dead because the electric company acted like heartless corporate pigs. It shouldn't be OK for this to happen.

[ComerPerro]

21. Its always a corporation, isn't it. So many people here don't believe in a god damned thing, except

for being "against the man".

Thats why so many are leaving the Democratic party in droves.

[Beaverhausen]

23. Once again- read the damn article. The corporation is 'devasted'

"Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened."

They care-why don't you?

[ComerPerro]

25. That might be one of the most insincere things I have ever read.

Of course they are going to say they are very upset and they will conduct an investigation. Its very basic Public Relations.

I just can't figure out why so many try to get behind things like this just to demonstrate their piety.

[Kingshakabobo]

27. "Thats why so many are leaving the Democratic party in droves."

Oh really? Do tell old wise one.....

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. The last two paragraphs...

Are gonna make some people here feel awful damn stoopid.

"Paging Mr. Pid! Mr. Stu Pid!"

[BlooInBloo]

9. Hopefully the legal bills from the lawsuit, even if ultimately not victorious....

.... will teach them otherwise.

[WI_DEM]

24. Wow! That's pretty extreme. cough up $122 or die

The woman wasn't working had five kids and maybe what income she had went for food and a roof over their heads? The utility company should never have done this. My question is did they know the situation. According to the story the guy who turned off the electricity was told but he did it anyway.

[NashVegas]

15. Plenty of Fools, Here

1. The idiot from the power company.

2. The managers at the power company who didn't take her situation into account.

3. The schmuck who designed the power company's database and didn't leave any fields for miscellaneous info.

4. The woman and her family. She should have asked her family for help to meet the bills. If her older children were working, she should have insisted on it.

5. As previously mentioned, why the hell did her family not call for assistance right away?

[WI_DEM]

22. I wonder how the guy who turned off the electricity can live with himself?

Frankly if I had been told that somebody would die if I turned it off I wouldn't have. I would have called my supervisor and told him/her the situation and said "I'm not going to do it" and I think most reputable companies would have backed me up.

[supernova]

26. That's what I'd like to know

Geez. At that point, the technician should have called his supervisor saying he had medical equipment in the house. And they could have worked it out then. But that was the very last chance. :-(

So sorry for this woman.

I think it's against the law here for the co to shut off the power if medical equiment is in the home.