ABC News reported that a man without health or dental insurance died from a tooth infection. It’s a sad story, especially because he was a young father. They blame his death on a lack of insurance.
A 24-year-old Cincinnati father died from a tooth infection this week because he couldn’t afford his medication, offering a sobering reminder of the importance of oral health and the number of people without access to dental or health care.
According to NBC affiliate WLWT, Kyle Willis’ wisdom tooth started hurting two weeks ago. When dentists told him it needed to be pulled, he decided to forgo the procedure, because he was unemployed and had no health insurance.
When his face started swelling and his head began to ache, Willis went to the emergency room, where he received prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medications. Willis couldn’t afford both, so he chose the pain medications.
The tooth infection spread, causing his brain to swell. He died Tuesday.
I know times are tough, but as Donald Douglas pointed out, Willis chose to forego the antibiotic for the pain medications, so he made a bad decision that tragically led to his death. But it was his decision. He also could have explained to the emergency room physician that he was without insurance, and asked the doctor to prescribe a generic drug. Walmart, which has several stores in the Cincinnati area, sells prescriptions for $4, chances are one of the antibiotics on the list could have helped. Target also sells $4 generics.
This man made some bad decisions, and paid with his life. It’s sad, but his death shouldn’t be politicized. Perhaps the media should spend more time informing Americans who are hurting in this economy that stores like Walmart and Target sell medications that just about anyone can afford. In fact, a quick Google search indicates that quite a few retailers offer the same program.
Update: Linked by Outside the Beltway. Thanks!
Tags: $4, dies, man, prescriptions, toothache
Linked at my place — thanks!
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What’s the price of toothpaste in Cincinnati?
What you’ll often find in these cases is that patients will continue to pay for their cigarette addiction which is several times as expensive as their medications. But they’ll skip the meds and we’re supposed to feel sorry. I don’t. This father did a horrible thing to his child/children by making stupid decisions.
If we knew the whole story we might learn that shame would be much more appropriate than pity.
The smoking addition, by the way, severely interferes with the body’s ability to fight off infection and heal.
For once, I’d like to see a headline that highlights the tremendous cost of self-inflicted disease.
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“Willis, who was unemployed and did not have medical insurance, purchased the $3 pain medication but not the $27 antibiotic because he couldn’t afford it, Collins said.”
$27!? What a joke. He could have found $27.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110901/NEWS01/109020346/Bootsy-Collins-nephew-dies-after-tooth-infection
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The story you linked also indicated that the hospital has a dental clinic that treats everybody, including the uninsured.
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And he has a rich and famous uncle.
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Meijers gives antibiotics away for free: http://www.meijer.com/pharmacy/antibiotics.asp
Not to mention every MD I’ve ever known had a closer full of samples.
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And his family wants to write to Obama and Congress about this? He couldn’t borrow the cash to have a tooth removed? He was a former manager for Wendy’s and a budding paralegal and he doesn’t understand infection? I’m sure when he declined a prescription for antibiotics because he was without insurance that he was told about the dental clinic available to him—seems awfully logical since the clinic was onsite. Sadly, I suspect he really didn’t understand the nature of infection in a tooth and how quickly that can go to your bloodstream and figured it would correct itself. I have family and friends also without insurance and they were not turned down for emergency assistance. This is truly sad for a 6 year old; but you can’t legislate common sense. I feel bad for him, but that was dumb and I don’t believe that he had no options.
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He also has a relative who is in the Rock and Roll hall of fame. Maybe that relative could have lent him the $27 for the antibiotic and even another $100 to have his tooth pulled.
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[...] a horribly poor choice here; obviously the antibiotics take precedence over pain meds. Further, as Lonely Conservative notes, one can get prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart and elsewhere for as low as $4. There were [...]
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Hey LC,
Agreed, the first thing I thought of when reading the story was this guy did not die because he had no insurance, he dies because of the government Nanny state and poor choices.
How does one pick the pain killers over the antibiotics? Hmm. Then, how does not one not mitigate their damages and do any research for themselves to figure out how to get the meds he needs? Nope, not under the Democrat model of they govt will make all your choices from birth to death.
He could have had a $4 prescription plan at Walmart or numerous locals. Instead, this guy did nothing and wanted it all for free. Unreal.
I have been in the healthcare industry field since 1990. There are so many ways that people without means can be covered. They just need to search them out. Its that little thing called responsibility.
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This story isn’t about kyle Willis, this story is about the msm stumping for mandatory health insurance akaObamaCare, and Willis is just some convenient blood to dance in, a tragedy(?) needing to be kept from going to waste.
More precisely, when emotion is removed, it is a blatant attempt at social engineering by a corrupt manipulative machine.
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It wasn’t long ago that I read a story about people in the UK performing their own dental procedures, with tools like pliers, because there’s such a long wait to see a dentist.
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I can understand that, when given the choice of hurting for several days, more probably weeks before receiving medical attention, or facing a few minutes of pain right now and being done with it, opting for the short course makes sense.
I have pulled several of my own teeth, it ain’t no picnic, but it’s over right away. I have to say the only part I miss about not seeing the dentist for extraction is the Procaine, that and paying someone $150.00 to hurt me.
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You just can’t fix stupid. The doctors gave him what he needed and offered care that he refused because it wasn’t free. Most lower income/uninsured patients will get the care and figure out how to pay for it (or not) later.
We had a 21-yr-old uninsured pt referred to our office for what turned out to be a raging Chlamydia infection. She got an injection in our office and an Rx. She was back two days later, complaining of continued pain and discharge. Yep, she hadn’t filled the Rx because she “didn’t have any money”. We explained to her that it was a $4 Rx at Wal-mart (doxy) and suggested she borrow the money from the family member who brought her if she couldn’t come up with it. Telling people over and over again that they should not have to pay anything for medical care makes them to decide to just do that.
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this is true. I had an abscessed tooth a month after getting laid off and losing my insurance. I had to go to the emergency care facility ($90)and they gave me a prescription of penicillin and vicodin. The penicillin was $4 and the vicodin was $7.53. Cheaper than what I would have paid with my $15/co-pay insurance for each prescription.
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Walmart’s $4 prescriptions have saved my life more than once – and I don’t have insurance. On that list are even medications that folks with chronic conditions take – thyroid, heart, and other meds. I know antibiotics are on it. Which kinds – not sure, but there ARE some on there because I HAVE PURCHASED THEM. Sheesh – this guy made a very stupid decision, and the MSM politicizes it. That makes me sick. What makes me MORE sick is to see a large sector of the population stripped of their dignity and their common sense, no longer capable of taking care of themselves, but rather when something bad happens their first thought is “What is the government doing for me? Where’s my free stuff at?”
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