There is an anti-mask, anti-vaccine, well-connected, influential, wealthy family in Florida. The son (I think elementary-aged) had to quarantine because of exposure to sars-cov-2 so the family took a vacation to Pennsylvania and enjoyed their time, unmasked. Now the wife has been posting on FB that the husband (they’re now back in Florida) has been admitted with Covid, is doing poorly and needs ECMO but there’s no hospital in Florida and to please mobilize and try to find a hospital to take him. Friends/family called doctors, admins, friends of friends, said he was vaccinated and needed help. Found a hospital in Conn. that would take him. Said they would pay for the transportation but once found the hospital again started posting to now contact the insurance company and demand they pay. So many things wrong with this!
He isn’t vaccinated but they said he is?
- It’s not right that influential people move to the front of the line
- Low income people would not have this option
- Demanding everyone do everything for them but they never acted in the best interest of anyone else
- Lying about vaccination status
- Ignoring science when it’s not convenient to them
That’s correct
Not vaccinated
I’m in a FB physician group where they’re posting about this, have been stalking the friends/family FB posts to see past/present actions and some physicians have posted that they were contacted and told he was vaccinated, which if a health 30 or 40 year old was needing ECMO, well they likely weren’t vaccinated
I’m not following. Some of the sentences are confusing. He’s unvaccinated. There’s no ECMO in Florida. There’s a hospital in CT that would admit him for ECMO. What is the problem now exactly? Is the family not paying? Is insurance not paying?
What is the issue here?
- anti-vax, anti-mask, got infected
- knew they were exposed yet traveled and went unmasked in the community, exposing others
- got sick and want the best care (understandable) but are using money and influence (that most people don’t have) to find the 1 ECMO bed in a state far away that could be going to a resident in that state, taking the machine from a vaccinated person who has done everything right
- lying, saying they were vaccinated and that they did nothing wrong so that people would be more sympathetic, lying to the physician who helped them
- a healthcare system that benefits VIPs
- because they were unvaccinated, having insurance now have to pay for all his care, including the flight from Florida to Connecticut, staffed by physicians and nurses with a ventilator and other treatments on board
It’s not really much different than celebrity or otherwise connected people having a special set of rules. Life isn’t fair in many ways.
Before I state my position, I am strongly in favor of vaccinations.
But…many people are in the hospital because of foolish decisions and bad choices. Some because of a one time bad decision. Others because of a life time of foolish decisions and choices. Smoking, overeating, using street drugs, not wearing a seat belt, diving into shallow water, not wearing a motorcycle helmet, the list goes on and on.
Now we can add not getting vaccinated to the list of very bad choices people have made that put them in the hospital. That doesn’t mean they should be denied care.
I agree. Stupid choices land folks in hospitals all too often. And many people own their choices. But here it sounds like the person in question (or rather their family) has been trying to drum up some sympathy and empathy (and help with locating the hospital bed) by stating they were vaccinated. Because they know that people are running out of empathy towards antivaxxers.
Yes. I hate lying. They should have just owned the bad decision and said they regretted it.
I am also out of sympathy for antivaxxers, just as I have no sympathy for others who have ruined their health through dumb decisions.
I can’t imagine any insurance paying for a private flight (how is that even possible for a covid positive patient), or any of the transportation expenses, to get to an out of state hospital bed. They can demand all they want.
I’m not directly involved in the care but people have posted that money was involved. One physician posted that there were no ECMO beds from Florida to Virginia and didn’t understand how they were able to secure a bed. Yes, insurance paid because one of the posts was the wife saying that it was Sunday and everything was being held up because the company was closed which was unacceptable and people needed to start reaching out to the VP and/or CEO to get the authorization on Sunday. Also, there’s somebody else that was wanting that bed but didn’t have the money or connections. Also, no remorse for their actions, no saying, “Hey, it’s really important to get a vaccination, folks. Don’t end up like …” In many areas of medicine you often have to demonstrate change for aggressive interventions, like, depending on their meld score, alcoholics may not qualify for a liver transplant, morbidly obese aren’t surgical candidates until they lose weight, active IV drug users who have endocarditis can’t get new heart valves. etc. No reconsideration of their role in their situation, instead they lie.
And it’s absolutely not ok to jump to the front of the line for the ECMO bed. When they were called out on social media about it, the wife simply said to “delete the trolls”.
People should stop posting private stuff on social media
Agreed of course, but compared to those just making “bad choices” for THEMSELVES, people who refuse vaccinations also impact everyone around them, and the community as a whole. So I wish there was a way to make them (literally) PAY by having to dip into their savings, home equity etc. for being wreckless with OTHER people’s lives.
I’m confused. In one post you say “likely not vaccinated” because of the care he is receiving. Then you emphatically state he is lying and is not vaccinated. I’m not sure how you are so certain when in another post you say likely?
I am a big proponent of vaccines. I disagree with those that decline because it is more than just their own health at stake, ie impact to community. I do have more respect for those that say (as one poster did on local FB) that if they get Covid they will not go to the hospital, will not clog up our medical system.
Except if they are dying, they will change their minds. People want to survive.
Unfortunately, not enough consider that before they say no to getting vaccinated.
By “likely” I mean if vaccinated, he wouldn’t be on ECMO. The vaccine keeps you out of the hospital and prevents serious illness, especially in a young healthy man.
I don’t understand how you can be against the vaccine, but run and take all kinds of things once you get Covid. What’s the difference in their mind? If the vaccine isn’t safe, why is anything else?