"Meet the Parents" Actress Dies...

yahoo.com ^ | March 11, 2006 | Sarah Hall

[JTHomes]

Doctors are the leading cause of death in this country.

http://www.mercola.com/2003/jan/15/doctors_drugs.htm

[cherry]

we don't know that.....I hope he did though.....

[ican'tbelieveit]

Are you a woman? I hate dealing with dr's as a woman. I had one guy suggest I see a counselor for my "tired" feelings. That time I had fluid in my lungs.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Yes, I have picked up pneumonia. I have a pneumonia infection running its course. Not all cases of pneumonia result in fluid in the lungs.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Welcome to a healthcare system that is being socialized.

Hospital: "Look, we'd really like to treat you, but you're rich and famous and probably have your own hospital on your estate somewhere. Besides, all our beds are filled with illegal immigrants and those who either can't or won't purchase health insurance. And, you know, it's federal law. We can't say no...to them."

I know this is an extreme situation and I'm soap-boxing, but a young healthy woman dying of pneumonia is just absurd.

[Kay]

Now that makes a whole lot of sense. LOL. The reason this woman died is because she had an infection in her lungs -- meaning she needed strong antibiotics. But your article blames doctors and hospitals for the side effects of drugs -- ie. for those in Rio Linda, the adverse reactions to drugs. Blaming doctors for even using drugs.

You can't have it both ways. As per Seinfeld, "Choose 'elaine' -- any 'lane'" -- but, JT, use your own brain, please.

[cubreporter]

Maybe but...it won't bring this young woman back. Very sad story.

[Joe 6-pack]

"What are stethoscopes....for, anyway?"

They're great political props!!!

[Xenalyte]

You must not have seen my profile page. ;)

Yes, I am a woman, and a large, loud, assertive one at that. Health care is a business like all others. I expect proper services for payment, and if I don't get what I pay for, I take my business elsewhere.

[Born Conservative]

Sepsis is different than a virus that affects the heart. I have a co-worker who needed a heart transplant due to a probable viral infection that "attacked" his heart, causing it to massively weaken (he's a pediatrician). Cardiomyopathy/heart failure from a virus is very rare, though, and is different than a bacterial infection that gets into the blood, and causes multi-system organ failure(as probably occurred with Henson).

[Bernard]

Was she being ignored because Michael Jackson was in the same hospital at the same time?

[pitinkie]

Depends on the type of pneumonia whether you hear rales or not.

[DannyTN]

"Actually, if you read the *whole* article, she only worsened and died TWO FULL DAYS AFTER STARTING ANTIBIOTICS. "

She worsened two days after going to the hospital and being prescribed only tylenol. Then they gave her antibiotics, but I bet it was one of the weaker antibiotics since they diagnosed her with bronchitis instead of pneumonia. Then she worsened again and died two days after that. She died within four days of first seeking help.

If they hadn't been afraid to prescribe her an antibiotic the first time, even if that antibiotic didn't work and she got worse, the second time they would have hit it with a strong antibiotic.

[flashbunny]

"shallow words"

Whether or not they are shallow, they are true.

[spectre]

Take good care of yourself, GR. I know many people who have had pneumonia in the last couple of months. Some were even hospitalized. Be well, sw

[beezdotcom]

but I bet it was one of the weaker antibiotics since they diagnosed her with bronchitis instead of pneumonia.

Maybe. Then again, maybe it was a viral infection, and none of this matters. Who knows?

[Alberta's Child]

I had pneumonia once when I was a kid, and it was originally misdiagnosed. I used to have a lot of respiratory ailments back then, and I figured it must have been easy for the doctor to mistake it for something else.

[Dave278]

A simple chest x-ray would have caught this.

[beezdotcom]

A simple chest x-ray would have caught this.

No, not always. For example, if she was a little dehydrated, it doesn't always show up on a chest x-ray.

[The Mike Device]

The issue with antibiotics I thought was one of compliance. People who receive them by any means still have to finish the course. Is it more dangerous to take antibiotics when no bacterial infection is present, or to stop taking them as soon as you feel better? If the latter is the more dangerous practice, which I suspect it is, then it seems to be a question of ignorance rather then access to antibiotics in the first place.