A year ago, my brother left us. He died because of kidney failure due to septic shock after contracting pneumonia. He could have lived if he had been transferred to a hospital that could place a shunt for dialysis in a timely manner.
A week before he died, his kidney function started to worsen--not only was this obvious from his labs, but also the swelling in his legs and difficulty urinating. He became so uncomfortable he had to sit up in a chair.
Not once did any of the providers or staff at the rural hospital where he was admitted mention transferring him to a facility in which he could get dialysis--until it was too late. About four days before his death, he had to intubated.
Right before they put him under in order to intubate him, he asked the nurses not to let him die.
Only after he had to be intubated did they start talking about transferring him to a facility that could place a shunt for dialysis--but they told us there were no facilities with space available for him. I tried to get them to send him to Cincinnati or Louisville--but they still kept saying they could not find a bed for him. A nurse working at the ICU let it slip that they had a contract with a particular hospital in Lexington--and they were actually waiting for a bed to open up there. I raised holy hell when she told me this, but none of the doctors or administrators would return my calls.
The day before he died, they finally transferred him to a hospital in Lexington where they could place a shunt--a different hospital than the one they were contracted with. I also learned from the charge nurse in the ICU unit that their hospital does not cap beds, and my brother could have been transferred at any time. For one night, we thought there was hope. But the next day, they called us to the hospital to let us know there was nothing else that could be done--his doctors told us that he was transferred far too late. One of the doctors even asked why they delayed so long since they knew what the outcome would be.
My brother died because of a financial contract--because the hospital's ability to make money was a more important consideration than his life.
I wonder how many other people have died because of similar financial arrangements that cause critical, lifesaving medical care to be delayed--not only with this particular hospital, but across the state and nationwide.
If we get another chance to attempt to reform healthcare in this country, not only will it be necessary to insure that all Americans have access to health insurance that will cover the services they need--contracts and practices that put a medical facility's stakeholders financial interests above those of their patient's health and safety need to be examined and thoroughly regulated.
My brother likely still had many years ahead of him, but now he is no longer with us. He still had so many things he wanted to do in life, but it was taken away from him. He will never get to go caving at Mammoth Cave or go camping again—we had planned a trip together as a family for last summer. He will never get to volunteer at the food bank again—something he always did because he had a rough go of it when he was young and wanted to help others when he was down and out. He was always the first person who volunteer to help other people when somebody around him needed help.
We live in a country that puts profits before the very lives of its citizens—millions of people like my brother have been sacrificed so some millionaire investor can have a new gold-plated toilet for their yacht. When will enough be enough?
