if not, why wouldn't absolutely everyone, regardless of ability to pay or insurance just step right up to JHH to get their procedures done?
I have stayed out of this little fray until now. Being as you haven't been here very long, could I point out that there was a DUmmie that got Mr. Stephenson into JH. He had pull by political persuasion. As a matter of fact, that will end up being another topic all by itself. (social medicine my butt).
Not everyone, even if they have the money can get into JH! They used false pretense to get him into a vaccine trial, in order to take advantage of the what the hospital had to offer. They lied to one of the folks that set's on the board in order to do this.
Their ethics, or lack there of, are well documented.
Perhaps you need to quiet down a little and do some research.
Your joking right? I have to say I think you're really stretching with this one. My point wasn't whether employees get sloppy or not, but that, at least according to what THEY say a mix up like this wouldn't keep them from life-saving surgery. When I said elective, I meant tummy-tuck, liposuction, etc. something that wasn't life or death. Remember, people "pulled strings" to get Andy at the front of the line (hence no one could go to the media about JH's incompetence when his surgery was cancelled). Stephanie's near-hysterical DON'T CALL THE HOSPITAL! DON'T CALL THE HOSPITAL! If he was accepted as his pals insist he would, they wouldn't consider that elective or even postponable. Some surgeries, maybe even for tumor (note the word tumor, not cancer) might be able to be put off for a few days, but NOT pancreatic cancer and not over something as insignificant as not being able to find a check a dying man says was sent. When you consider there was MORE arm twisting to get him into the current vaccine study, time would be of the essence.
From the Update from Skinner thread:
Stephanie Donating member (1000+ posts) Wed May-11-05 03:52 PM Response to Reply #115 127. and because at JH he can be in a clinical trial of an experimental vaccine They are running a clinical trial of an experimental pancreatic cancer vaccine, and Andy was accepted into the trial group. This was an amazing stroke of luck, thanks to a friend who was able to help Andy get accepted into this program at JH. That's why he's at JH instead of home in Washington - for the clinical trial. And also because they are just the best.
DTinAZ Donating member (108 posts) Wed May-11-05 03:54 PM Response to Reply #127 128. "was accepted" or "might be accepted"? IIRC from the recent threads, I think "might" is what was communicated, but someone kindly correct me if I'm misremembering that detail.
Stephanie Donating member (1000+ posts) Wed May-11-05 04:01 PM Response to Reply #128 135. Was accepted He applied, was turned down because it was full. Then someone who knew someone was able to convince them to accept him in the trial.
Then there's this little gem from: For Andy - we ain’t done yet
In the middle of patting everyone on the back and telling them to please email their lists, ask friends, steal from their mother, etc. when they thought they had to come up with the other 25,000 AFTER surgery, in comes flyarm with this little panic attack:
flyarm Donating member (1000+ posts) Fri May-06-05 04:06 PM Response to Original message 36. EMERGENCY EMERGENCY..THIS IS REAL HELP!!!!!! HELP
jOHNS HOPKINS JUST CALLED ANDY THEY WANT FULL MONEY BY NOON MONDAY..WE ARE SHORT ..$4,800.00 OR THEY CANCEL SURGERY !!
I SAY THAT AGAIN WE ARE SHORT $4,800.00
PLEASE IF YOU HAVEN'T DONATED DO IT NOW PLEASE!!!
IF YOU HAVE FRIEMDS YOU CAN APPEAL TO..DO IT NOW PLEASE.. DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HOLD THEM OFF...
BUT I WE NEED HELP FOR ANDY ..NOW!!!!
OR HE GETS CANCELED..THIS IS IMPERATIVE..AND NEEDS ATTANTION NOW..SO PLEASE IF YOU HAVE ANYONE YOU CAN CALL OR EMAIL PLEASE DO IT NOW!!
DONATE TO THE FOLLOWING ..USE PAY PAL OR AMAZON PLEASE NOW
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Please blast this out to your networks!
NOTE that later in this thread Lady MacBeth says they need 18000
Of course, believing this to be travesty that might kill a dying dummie, the best suggestion to draw attention to his plight (I'm only posting the most pertinent sentence since the rest is deficient in repeatable adjectives, nouns, verbs, and indirect objects:
NVMojo Donating member (1000+ posts) Fri May-06-05 10:06 PM Response to Reply #102 116. this is total bullsh**!!! I've worked for a for-profit hospital chain and
if a patient had no insurance, paid half on the day of surgery, they signed an agreement to get the rest in payments...They even have the ability to write off the rest of this...They are playing off our sympathy so they can get COLD HARD CASH!!!!
We need to threaten to go to the media with this story!!!
flyarm Donating member (1000+ posts) Sat May-07-05 09:10 PM Response to Reply #116 371. no dear...
we have broken all protocol to get andy in with this dr and in this possible test program going on,,,under no circumstances would he have qualified without insurance..we broke the protocol and the proceedures through a back door..please get mad at our government not the hospital..and not the care andy will get this dr has a 5x success rate above any other in the world.. thisis a very expensive surgery and a very expensive after treatment if andy qualifies and we wont know that until during or after surgery..so please put you anger where it should be..with your government and those who are unwilling to see to it that every american has coverage!
we went through every back door to get andy in under no circiumstances would he have gotten in if they knew he didnt have insurance..and through ommission on my part of not telling the man who got andy in that andy didnt have insurance ..if that fact had been known the answer would have been no..so through omission i lied...and now my husbands boss is very angry as his reputation is now on the line..and he may never trust me again to get anyone else into JH....now the man is angry , as no one gets into this program period without insurance ..period!!
[snip]
andy was original scheduled for june 2nd..when the dr saw his records he moved it up..so it left little time to do anything but get the money together for him,.. i knew it was going to be a problem..but he has the best surgeon in the world..who has the best success ratio..of helping andy be cancer free..please lets count those blessings...and fight to get equality for all after this... there is a posibility andy may get into the test program that is showing remarkable success.it all depends on what the dr finds when they go in...and lets pray that soon andy is cancer free!
and remember we went over and above protocol and proceedures of JH just to get andy in...and that was before they knew he didnt have insurance...the no insurance is just another hurdle but getting him into this dr was the biggest hurdle!!
he has a chance to get the best care available in the world with this doctor...lets count those blessings!!
Just one more little bit to chew on...that little trial program that he MIGHT get into here on the 7th, but thanks to more strong-arming Andy suddenly got into...here's what JH has to say about clinical trials:
Even if you have health insurance, your coverage may not include some or all of the costs associated with a clinical trial...Because lack of coverage for these costs can keep people from enrolling in trials, the National Cancer Institute is working with major health plans and managed care groups to find solutions...
Now, you can believe what you want, but I just don't think one of the top cancer hospitals in the country is going to consider life or death surgery "elective". While it would be lovely to be able to err on the side of a "dying" man and blame the hospital for clerical errors or wonder whether they consider time-limited surgery elective, I think the inconsistencies on the other side pretty much say it all. This kind of attention to detail, or nit-picking is what has helped me pick up on these kinds of details. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but it certainly seems as if you're trying to defend their position, grasping for anything that might support postponing surgery etc.
However, to answer "why" wouldn't everyone go there...many people would probably not be able to afford the expense of staying in the area, even if they could pay for surgery. The majority of people who go there probably do have some kind of insurance...during my research I discovered MY insurance will pay for JH. Were I to have the same procedure, however, I'd go to the excellent doctor in WA state as it's closer to my home and thus I would be able to have support of friends and family more often than if I went to Baltimore. Of course, if I had no insurance and was suffering from a kind of cancer that would kill me in mere months if I delayed surgery and my state's health care for needy people was offering to pay for my treatment AND I was able to get a doctor SO WELL QUALIFIED that he comes recommended by the very facility I want to get into, then I'd probably not risk my life raising funds for several months so I could go somewhere else...but that's just me. Since JH is not a primary care facility, most people probably end up there through referrals or inqueries from their doctors. I'm sure there are as many reasons for going as for not going. Once you are accepted, as Andy and his friends said he was, though, I don't think the hospital is going to say..."oops! my bad...this is only elective surgery cause you could have had it somewhere else. Call admissions! Cancel everything until you have the full amount!"
Cindie