Uninsured 17yo dies of C-19 denied treatment in California

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It is unclear whether he was transported by car or ambulance. I think a clinic would call an ambulance if they thought someone needed one. If he needed to be put on a respirator it seems unlikely a clinic would have one. If he was ambulatory with flu-like or even pneumonia symptoms, I doubt anyone would expect him to go into sudden cardiac arrest.

OK, however , it's pretty common to refuse service.

There was a US medical tv show called "ST. Elsewhere" (Saint Elsewhere).

If you didn't have money (medical insurance), then you took you ELSEWHERE.

This may have been an unusual situation, but I have heard many complaints about the American health system.
Perhaps it was the Australian Labor Party's propaganda/lies, but we were lead to believe that many people in America don't go to the doctors because it is "hideously" expensive.
Any comments on that?
Anyone?
I'd like to be enlightened, seriously.

The rest about it sucking was a tangent. My initial complaint is legitimate. If I were in your country and read that sign I would assume it meant what it said, not that it was a walk in clinic incapable of providing urgent medical care and that’s just wrong. It’s f*****g stupid, pure and simple, and could cost lives.

My aunts and their boyfriends winter in Palm Springs, California. They recently got back to Canada. My aunt who’s house I house sit and am at now told me that while she was down South this winter she met a man in his 60’s who had Never been to a doctor in his life. Ever. Not once. Because it costs too much money. People who are poor and uninsured in the USA might have to pay $300-600+ out of pocket for a regular doctors visit, and people who are truly poor in the USA almost never have that kind of savings and thus cannot afford to see a doctor for anything.

I don’t know what % of their overall population are like this and unable to see a doctor even on some sort of government benefit program, but they exist.

Meanwhile, here, it’s costs me $0 out of pocket to see a doctor or specialist. I never even see a bill. I only ever go to a doctor when Necessary and certainly don’t abuse “free,” visits, but yeah, never a worry about paying the bill because there isn’t one.

Over here, most doctors "bulk bill" meaning the patient doesn't have to pay.
I think it does cost to see a specialist though.

Anyway, I rest my case, with the reassertion that the US medical health system sucks, assuming what you have said is correct.

Yeah but that was all just something an autistic kid dreamed up while gazing into a snow globe.

"What Is Urgent Care Medicine?

Urgent Care Medicine is the provision of immediate medical service offering outpatient care for the treatment of acute and chronic illness and injury. It requires a broad and comprehensive fund of knowledge to provide such care. Excellence in care for patients with complex and or unusual conditions is founded on the close communication and collaboration between the urgent care medicine physician, the specialists and the primary physicians.

Urgent care does not replace your primary care physician. An urgent care center is a convenient option when someone's regular physician is on vacation or unable to offer a timely appointment. Or, when illness strikes outside of regular office hours, urgent care offers an alternative to waiting for hours in a hospital Emergency Room.

Understanding The Scope Of Urgent Care Practice

Because urgent care practitioners are on the "front lines" of medicine, they need to be proficient in evaluating and caring for - at least initially - any patient who walks into an urgent care medicine center or urgent care clinic. For this reason, there is some overlap in the scope of practice between Urgent Care Medicine and all existing medical specialties that involve direct patient care. Because of the convenience of Urgent Care Centers, patients choose these facilities when they are unable to see their usual doctor in a timely fashion or choose not to go to a hospital emergency department.

For most patients seen in an ambulatory medicine setting, the Urgent Care Medicine specialist can fully care for the presenting problem, either independently or in consultation with another specialist. Sometimes patients will require follow-up with or referral to another specialist, transfer to an emergency department, or direct hospitalization (with inpatient care by the consultant). Urgent Care Medicine specialists do not perform surgery (other than wound repair and skin lesion removal), do not care for inpatients, and typically do not engage in the continuing medical care of chronic medical problems.

Of all of the existing specialties, Urgent Care Medicine shares the most in common with family practice and emergency medicine, though there is enough uniqueness of practice that Urgent Care Medicine, in reality, is a separate specialty with a distinct knowledge base, skill set, and required breadth of experience. Urgent Care Medicine shares with Family Practice its broad scope: caring for both male and female patients of any age with any complaint. Urgent Care Medicine differs from Family Practice in that its primary focus is on acute medical problems.

Because specialization is the result of focused attention and having experience in a particular area, acute care represent the majority of what Urgent Care Medicine specialists do - versus Family Practice practitioners who divide their time caring for some acute, but predominately chronic health issues. Because of this, their experience and expertise in acute care is more extensive than that of Family Practice practitioners. The Family Practice's area of practice that is distinct from Urgent Care Medicine involves continuity of medical care and, for some Family Practice practitioners, inpatient care and obstetrics.

As with Family Practice, Urgent Care Medicine shares a broad scope with Emergency Medicine as well: caring for both male and female patients of any age with any complaint. Urgent Care Medicine differs from Emergency Medicine in that its primary focus is on acute medical problems at the lower end of the severity spectrum. Urgent Care Medicine specialists have expertise evaluating and treating these patients with only simple office-based laboratory tests (e.g., urinalysis, pregnancy test, rapid strep assay) and X-ray. There is no immediate access to extensive laboratory testing or advanced imaging (e.g., CT scanning and ultrasound). Those who present to an urgent care center who, in the judgment of the Urgent Care Medicine specialist, require this, are transferred to a hospital emergency department. Due to the simpler administrative procedures and costs associated with office-based versus hospital-based practice, similar care in an Urgent Care setting can generally be provided more quickly and economically than in an Emergency Medicine setting. The area of Emergency Medicine's practice that is distinctive from Urgent Care Medicine involves the definitive care of critically ill patients and the ability to observe patients for an extended period of time.

The Emergency Room Vs. The Urgent Care Clinic

Urgent Care services are medically necessary services which are required for an illness or injury that would not result in further disability or death if not treated immediately, but require professional attention and have the potential to develop such a threat if treatment is delayed longer than 24 hours. An urgent care condition could be…

Allergic reaction
Nausea
Back pain
Pneumonia
Conjunctivitis (Pink eye)
Rash
Diarrhea
Sinusitis
Ear infection
Sore throat
Fever
Sprains/Strains
Insect bites
Upper Respiratory Infection
Lacerations
Vaginitis
Migraine
Vomiting
Mononucleosis
Wounds/Abscess"

https://aaucm.org/what-is-urgent-care-medicine/

In practice, “urgent care” treats mild ailments and refers more serious ones to hospitals. They take some of the load off emergency rooms.

I think for something requiring a hospital if, you saw a sign that said urgent care and went in, it would at the very least be the same as if you called for paramedics. It is not something someone would lose their life over.

It would also be against the law for them to refuse assistance to someone in critical condition. And therefore I doubt the 17 year old appeared to be in critical condition. And I am sure there will be an inquiry along with an autopsy. My guess is it is extremely rare for an otherwise seemingly perfectly healthy (as he was described) 17 year old to go into sudden cardiac arrest over pneumonia.

In practice, one usually has to wait an hour or more at urgent care facilities. It’s like what the emergency room used to be back in the old days.

For a real medical emergency, call 911. Don’t go into urgent care.

Family history? Do cardiac problems occur more frequently in some families? I'm thinking of Tyrone Power Sr and Jr .

One was a youtube celebrity who was about my age at the time. That condition did run in his family.

Ezra, dude.. no tourist is googling the definition of “Urgent Care Clinic,” when they’re sick or injured and in immediate need of actual urgent medical attention. If they see a sign that says “Urgent Care Clinic,” they’re going to assume they can get urgent medical care there - and for good reason; that’s what the sign says! All I’m saying is that the name is stupid and misleading and shouldn’t be so. As KK called it, it’s a misnomer.

this thread reminds me of a hairdresser salon named in the movie mystic pizza called ' curl up and dye ' . concerning healthcare.

So far, EzraS is spot-on -- everything he has posted is correct.

The 17-year old went to the wrong place. He should have gone straight to the emergency room by ambulance. He wasted precious time and it cost him his life. There is no else one to blame.

The Media (and a few foreign Socialists) are making a big issue out of one small detail, and further distorting it to make the medical system look more greedy than it actually is.

The man screwed up, and now he's dead. That's all there is to it.