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

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https://www.mic.com/p/uninsured-17-year ... e=facebook

Mmhmm, sure it was “something else,” and not untreated C-19 that killed him.

Pretty sad that this story is going to play out countless times on repeat across the USA as death tolls skyrocket.

The rest of the developed world is grateful for socialized medicine, for sure.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I agree.

I’ve always believed in national health care for serious conditions.

An urgent care would have had him transported to a hospital even if he had insurance. An urgent care is just small walk-in clinic usually located in a shopping center or business park. My uncle who had plenty of health insurance went to an urgent care with chest pains and they had an ambulance take him to a hospital.

We have to know the whole story with this person.

But I have experienced instances where I know somebody would have benefited from national insurance for serious medical conditions.

I don't disagree that we need a better healthcare system. But I do not think this particular situation had anything to do with health insurance really. At 17 he was a minor, so have to wonder why a minor goes to a clinic by himself. Where were his parents in this?

While some of you were pointing fingers and making up stories, I was checking the facts.

• The 17-year old man appeared healthy on Friday, March 13.
• He went to an urgent care clinic on Wednesday, March 18.
• He had been sick for a few days.
• He had no health insurance.
• The clinic sent him to a hospital.
• He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.
• He was revived upon arrival at the hospital.
• He died while still in the hospital, 6 hours after arrival.
• Patient privacy prevents disclosure of any further details.
• The cause of death will be determined by the CDC.

Source: This NBC News article

Some of you people seem to be acting as if the clinic kicked him out onto the street and left him to die in the gutter, when he was actually receiving medical care at a nearby hospital.

These so-called "urgent care clinics" are basically glorified first-aid stations designed to handle non-life-threatening emergencies. Many are unaffiliated with any hospital, but operate in close proximity.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that a person minutes away from a cardiac event will be in obvious physical distress, and the first thing to do is to get that person to a hospital, not a clinic.

EzraS is right, a clinic would have sent someone like that to a hospital even if he had insurance. It was not the clinic that killed him. It was not the lack of insurance that killed him. It was whatever illness or condition he already had that killed him. Maybe it was CoViD-19, or maybe it was just a bad flu. We will know soon enough.

The point is that the Media is focusing so much on the fact he was denied treatment at an inadequate clinic that certain people are blaming events and conditions that have nothing to due with the cause of his death!

Sudden cardiac arrest makes me wonder about an undiagnosed heart condition like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I know of a couple of teens who died from that.

I just want to point out that the name “Urgent Care Clinic,” is f*****g stupid.

If I were to be a visitor in your country and a medical emergency happened and I required immediate medical attention and I saw a sign that said “Urgent Care Clinic,” I would go there expecting to get what’s advertised on the sign - Urgent Care.. not a f*****g bandaid and a Tylenol. That sort of false labeling/advertising should be illegal. WTF? Crap like that should be called “Community First Aid Centre,” or something that more accurately describes the level of medical care they’re capable of providing. Mislabeling like that could literally cost people their lives.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I agree. It is a misnomer.

The difference between an urgent care clinic and a doctor's office, is you make an appointment for a doctor's office, whereas you just walk into an urgent care. They only treat urgent situations, so the doctors there are not going to be tied up dealing with routine patients. Also they have longer hours than a doctors office. Some operate 24/7. Even a hospital will transfer you to another hospital that is better equipped to deal with a particular situation. And they treat you faster than a hospital emergency room that has more serious situations to deal with than stitching up a cut. It is pretty obvious there is a difference between a hospital and a small clinic located in a shopping center or business park.

They’re called “Walk in clinics,” here. Or just “Medical Clinic.” But none of them have BS lies for names like “Urgent Care Clinic,” where I would expect to be able to get Urgent Care ie what you’d get at a hospital Emergency Room here or A & E (Accidents & Emergencies) in the UK.

I just think the name is very misleading and anyone unfamiliar with the US (lack of) healthcare system may assume they can actually get Urgent Care there for a serious injury in the event of an emergency.

But that’s just one of countless things wrong with the American system.. where people won’t call an ambulance because it might cost $5,000.00 or some BS. Know what it costs here? 90 bucks and they bill you later.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

This isn't really about the blatantly obvious difference between a small clinic and a hospital. It is about you complaining about how much the American healthcare system sucks. But since you don't have to deal with it and there is nothing you can do about it, it doesn't really matter how much you don't like it.