He died five days later.
[...]
But his condition continued to deteriorate.
Just another example of the danger of cut and paste.
But seriously this is something that goes with a situation we have in our town.
We have a free clinic here. It is designed, as you might guess, to give aid to tose wo have no insurance or means. It was just recently decided by the directors of the clinic that medical care in that facility will no longer be given to people without proof of legal residency. The board is aware of about 60 people who currently get such aid. The number of people who might potentially have used the service is hard to say.
The reason they made this decision is that the local politicians have been pressuring them to stop treatment or lose funding. The board reluctantly concluded that it is better to help some than help none, so they acquiesced.
This bothers me for a simple, fundamental reason. NOBODY should be denied medical care. Deny welfare, deny section 8 housing, food stamps or job placement services. Deny rental opportunities or bank accounts. ABSOLUTELY deny the vote. But don't deny medical care - at least not for reasons of residency. There are some who call the current wave of immigration a passive invasion. I happen to agree with them. So what? Even in wartime, we give medical aid to our wounded enemies. Medical care is different from all other issues because it is the one thing which, when denied, can lead to irreversible damage. The case described in this thread is a perfect and tragic example of this.
Heads should role on this one.