We're just beginning to get some good news. SHe's back in LA now, but the LONG email with all of the details was frightening! The only bit of luck - she's a Dr and was on her way to a conference with lots of other doctors that made lots of demands of officials upon landing in China.

But the details of the surgery, my cousin trying to get proper documentation to get there, the state of the hospital (ex, no soap or TP in rooms - patients are expected to bring their own) and worst - getting the hell out of there is the stuff of nightmares. Oh and getting cash sent from the US so they could pay the bill and be allowed to leave - not at all an easy task.

She wasn't allowed pain meds after the first and only shot after surgery. She was in horrendous pain and pretty much thought she was gonna die alone in China.

YIKES!!

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hal

But the details of the surgery, my cousin trying to get proper documentation to get there, the state of the hospital (ex, no soap or TP in rooms - patients are expected to bring their own) and worst - getting the hell out of there is the stuff of nightmares. Oh and getting cash sent from the US so they could pay the bill and be allowed to leave - not at all an easy task.

She wasn't allowed pain meds after the first and only shot after surgery. She was in horrendous pain and pretty much thought she was gonna die alone in China.

YIKES!!

Sounds like she skipped a step or two.
Their hospitals are not pretty, but they work.
Until recently you did not need prescriptions to get your meds. You just walk to your local pharmacy or send a relative for what you need to the local pharmacy. The meds are dirt cheap. tree bucks for a set of antibiotics, etc. i do not think there is an official hospital pharmacy. There should be a private storefront at or near the premises.
Things are done differently there and as long as you understand the system it works out quite well.
Did the hospital ran scalp the foreigner rate or just lets get them out of here?
How high was the bill?....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2018 03:57PM by max.

My brother had a similar experience in Nashville. He was suffering from appendicitis while on a business trip. He went to the ER and they told him they wouldn't accept his insurance so he'd have to go elsewhere. This information was both incorrect and untrue. Nonetheless, he got on a plane for Pittsburgh via Atlanta and DC and eventually back to the 'burgh. His appendix was out within 3 hours of landing in Pittsburgh. He'd really dodged a bullet.

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MacResource User Map: [www.zeemaps.com]#

Insane.

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ztirffritz
My brother had a similar experience in Nashville. He was suffering from appendicitis while on a business trip. He went to the ER and they told him they wouldn't accept his insurance so he'd have to go elsewhere. This information was both incorrect and untrue. Nonetheless, he got on a plane for Pittsburgh via Atlanta and DC and eventually back to the 'burgh. His appendix was out within 3 hours of landing in Pittsburgh. He'd really dodged a bullet.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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Speedy
Insane.

And criminal.

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ztirffritz
My brother had a similar experience in Nashville. He was suffering from appendicitis while on a business trip. He went to the ER and they told him they wouldn't accept his insurance so he'd have to go elsewhere. This information was both incorrect and untrue. Nonetheless, he got on a plane for Pittsburgh via Atlanta and DC and eventually back to the 'burgh. His appendix was out within 3 hours of landing in Pittsburgh. He'd really dodged a bullet.

I don't get it. Local hospital has a sign in the ER that says if you are in critical condition or in labor they cannot deny treatment by law, regardless if you have insurance or if you can pay. Is this a local law? I was under the impression is was a federal law. Then why did they deny treatment?

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space-time

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ztirffritz
My brother had a similar experience in Nashville. He was suffering from appendicitis while on a business trip. He went to the ER and they told him they wouldn't accept his insurance so he'd have to go elsewhere. This information was both incorrect and untrue. Nonetheless, he got on a plane for Pittsburgh via Atlanta and DC and eventually back to the 'burgh. His appendix was out within 3 hours of landing in Pittsburgh. He'd really dodged a bullet.

I don't get it. Local hospital has a sign in the ER that says if you are in critical condition or in labor they cannot deny treatment by law, regardless if you have insurance or if you can pay. Is this a local law? I was under the impression is was a federal law. Then why did they deny treatment?

As he mentioned, the information that the ER would not accept his insurance and he would have to go elsewhere was false. But it is part of a pattern of many privately run hospitals, especially for-profit ones, turning away patients from their ER's. And yes, it is a Federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act - EMTALA - passed over 30 years ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2018 05:48PM by JoeH.

Beth Israel’s ER here in NYC released a friend of mine who was have a severe asthma attack instead of admitting her. They said she was OK to leave, but we suspect that they wanted her released because she didn’t have insurance. She wound up in another hospital and intubated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2018 06:57PM by ka jowct.

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ka jowct
Beth Israel’s ER here in NYC released a friend of mine who was have a severe asthma attack instead of admitting her. They said she was OK to leave, but we suspect that they wanted her released because she didn’t have insurance. She wound up in another hospital and intubated.

I'm paying another $100/month for the school ACA plan (Gold) when my youngest heads off to uni this fall.

So they'll have in-network coverage at the local doctors/hospitals.

Maybe I'll bribe them to re-apply to the service academies...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2018 08:08PM by Bill in NC.

Yep...first world healthcare...

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MacResource User Map: [www.zeemaps.com]#

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ztirffritz
Yep...first world healthcare...

No, US health care, unfortunately.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

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space-time

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ztirffritz
My brother had a similar experience in Nashville. He was suffering from appendicitis while on a business trip. He went to the ER and they told him they wouldn't accept his insurance so he'd have to go elsewhere. This information was both incorrect and untrue. Nonetheless, he got on a plane for Pittsburgh via Atlanta and DC and eventually back to the 'burgh. His appendix was out within 3 hours of landing in Pittsburgh. He'd really dodged a bullet.

I don't get it. Local hospital has a sign in the ER that says if you are in critical condition or in labor they cannot deny treatment by law, regardless if you have insurance or if you can pay. Is this a local law? I was under the impression is was a federal law. Then why did they deny treatment?

I was in the ER in Tacoma Washington all afternoon today with my partner's mom after a bad fall. Same sign. Federal law. If they want to be allowed to operate (pun only partially intended) they have to abide by these sets of laws. I have seen the same signs in all the Seattle hospitals as well.

circa 1970, my sister's on again/off again boyfriend from PHX came to town on the DL w/ a buddy of his to visit me at UCLA. When sis's BF didn't feel good, I borrowed one of my buddy's student health ID, from a guy who physically matched our visitor's description... right down to the scar on their sides. Only prob was, my buddy's scar was from an appendectomy, and visitor's scar was from a sports injury. UCLA hospital ruled out appendicitis because health record for ID being used showed no mo' appendix to get citis'ed. Treated and released, guys are then driving back towards PHX, but near LA County line, appendix ruptures, so u-turn and back to UCLA for emergency, very messy appendectomy (w/o bogus student ID).

About a year later, sis found out about old BF's LA Confidential Adventure. Sis had moved to SF and negotiations were winding down vis a vis a long distance relationship. Sis wondered why I didn't tell her about the adventure at the time; clearly she didn't understand bro code. Had the incident gotten any worse back then, I would've told her, but when he got out of the hospital and asked for continued radio silence, I honored his request.

There are lessons to be learned from all the stories in this thread.
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circa mid/late 1990's Silicon Valley, little bro's FIL was having appendix "issues" and had laparoscopic surgery scheduled a couple of days later at everyone's convenience... prior to the appointed time, FIL's appendix blew and he had an emergency, major fillet job done instead. Darn near died. So much for convenience.

More lessons.
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