I wonder how many “vaccinated” people who are hospitalized really were vaccinated vs lying about it. Do they check somehow?
This family is disgusting. Who knows how much they spread it in their carefree trip to PA. Is it a “done in the past” incident or a current one?
At least they should realize Covid is real now and worthy of respect.
There’s no way they should have taken a bed from someone else though. No way at all. I hope the hospital gets outed with that one.
PM me
I hope you can do something about it - sending best wishes to you!
Just did.
If this is about Robert Walker, then this has already happened. Susan-and Robert Walker
Robert Walker wasn’t immunized, and the wife (who already had Covid), when she was seeking an ECMO bed for him, admitted this publicly on CNN. He was transferred to CT for ECMO on Aug 11th, has responded well, and came off ECMO today. He’s had a tracheostomy, is still on the ventilator. Not out of the woods yet, but has made progress.
Don’t know about the reported trip to PA, but it’s clear from their FB feed that they weren’t taking any precautions.
No. Reading some more of the posts of the thread, a good friend and co-worker of the patient just transferred to CT, 37 years old, died from COVID last month and they are having a celebration of life for the man, indoors at a bar of all places. 
Back when Covid lockdown first happened, I thought how nice that everybody was in this to beat it. I smiled under my mask seeing everybody else doing the same. I thought how ironic it was that a pandemic made everybody come on the same page to beat this. That lasted for months. Then the crap hit the fan. People are arguing and sometimes murdering people at markets and retail stores over mask wearing. School board meetings have turned crazy and violent. Political influences have taken over science.
Damn, I’m angry and I don’t want to feel this way.
End of rant
So there are two different Florida residents who have been transferred to CT for ECMO? As a CT resident, I wish the hospitals would not accept critical patients who refused vaccines.
I mean, if your only evidence that this guy wasn’t vaccinated is that he’s currently on ECMO, then I’d say that’s scant evidence, and maybe kind of cruel to be posting like this. All of us vaccinated people hope our vaccines help us enough to keep us out of the hospital and out of intensive treatment such as ECMO, but we aren’t 100% sure that will do it…I think it’s still possible to have a breakthrough case that results in ICU level treatments, or…death. However, I think in your first post you called the family “anti-vaxxers”, so perhaps you do have more evidence than just the need for the ECMO machine.
Either way, I agree, that we should not deny treatment to people who make foolish personal decisions. For example, all of us know that covid is MUCH more deadly (and hospitalize-able) for overweight people. So have every one of us responsible citizens taken the past 18 months to get our butts out there to exercise and lose weight to lower the burden on our health care workers??? No, I can personally attest to that as a no…Do I think all these irresponsible people (ahem, me) who did not lose 20 pounds in the past year deserve poorer treatment? I can’t say I agree to that! I don’t think that’s how medicine should work (although I am 100% in agreement at being personally VERY ANNOYED at non-vaxxed people).
I saw an interview on CNN with the wife. And the interviewer asked why the husband and wife weren’t vaccinated. And she said that she had had Covid and she and her husband were both concerned about long-term side effects of the vaccine. And that they were being careful and wearing masks. And then as Florida opened up and they started socializing more they realized that they weren’t being as careful as they should be. And then her husband was diagnosed with Covid, ended up with bilateral pneumonia and intubated. She claims that the husband was remorseful about not getting the vaccine. I like to think she’s telling the truth but she was being interviewed on television so I’m not sure that she would admit anything different.
I’m disappointed that this guy wasn’t vaccinated but I too am not on team “he shouldn’t be treated” because he wasn’t vaccinated. That’s a slippery slope…should we not treat the drunk driver who kills someone? Or the gang member who does a drive by and kills someone? The world is full of stupid people, evil people, reckless people and they are all treated if they’re admitted to a hospital.
I think the outrage is not that he is being treated despite being unvaccinated, but that perhaps he was given priority for advanced treatment in another state due to his connections that is the real bone of contention. The lying about being vaccinated is just another reason people feel resentment. If I had a loved one needing ECMO in CT, but couldn’t get it because this anti-science, well connected person who cavalierly exposed others to his illness without a hint of remorse took the bed, I’d feel really resentful. That’s just normal human nature.
But this is par for the course here. If you have money and connections, you live in a different world than most people.
No, I am a member of a private physician group on social media. Someone started a thread about this because they know the person and family are vocal anti-vacc, anti-mask and saw this happening and questioned the ethics of it all. Several other physicians chimed in agreement and noted the family’s posts and videos on social media about it have been taken down, other physicians have stated they were contacted for help in securing a bed and were specifically told the patient was vaccinated. Another physician called them out and they didn’t deny it. Plus, like I said, a healthy 30 something year old man wouldn’t be on ECMO if they had a vaccine and the guy’s friend is now dead from it sadly. There’s been other ways of garnering information that I won’t go into.
This!
I find it very disturbing that physicians discuss patients on FB group including names for specific patients
This person is no one’s patient. Local physicians know the family because of their vocal anti-vaxx, anti-mask stance in the community and then once the man took a turn for the worse and friends and family started mobilizing on social media, everything became public knowledge. Lots of reaching out, connections, calling including, as stated by the wife on social media, even CEO and VP of hospital. Everything was found on social media because of the mobilization that was happening because of the family. Physicians on the sidelines saw it and questioned the ethics of it all.
Do you and your physician FB group have the same reaction to your 30-year old male patients that [fill in the self-destructive behavior]?
No. What do you mean? Physicians treat people.
Does someone know for a fact that anyone in CT was denied a bed or denied Ecmo due to this patient. I understand people are frustrated but it seems to me many are making up scenarios about something we know nothing about. I am in a medical field and I am absolutely not a believer in denying treatment to anyone for any reason. I also agree that a private physician Facebook page discussing patients is a bit disturbing, and just as disturbing that the story from Facebook (which we all know is only true information, right) was shared here.
True
This thread confirms what the Seattle Times writer said… our empathy for antivaxxers is running thin…