Link
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 just can't express how angry this makes me. The only thing that calms me down is that the fact that it made news means it is a rare occurence. For god's sake the guy was a father.
I just cannot believe that we can't give a couple cheap meds to a guy to keep him from dying. We just can't do it, even in the richest most powerful country in the world. I mean, how much could some pain killers and antibiotics cost? $15? And now he's dead and his family will have to live without him.
Maybe he made some bad decisions, I don't know. But he should have never had to make any decisions about this. We should live in a society where someone can get their tooth pulled for FREE if it's going to KILL THEM.
And the beat goes on. It's amazing to me how much this country has decided that it can't do. We can't help the unemployed. We can't rebuild our infrastructure. We can't invest in clean energy. We can't invest in our future. We can't make sure everybody gets good basic health care, even if it only costs a few bucks. Because those $ should be buying one onemillionth of a predator drone, or given to a "job creator" or something.
Anyway, this isn't really a diary. I'm just ranting. I can't imagine how terrible I'd feel if this happened to someone I knew. I'm just. so. goddamn. frustrated. with. this. country.
What the hell is wrong with us?
Fri Sep 02, 2011 at 10:12 PM PT: I guess I should say thanks for putting this on the rec list. It's just that it makes me sad that this even has to be written, much less on the rec list. RIP Kyle Willis.