‘Who’s going to pay for it?’ were the tragic last words of a Coronavirus Victim.
Derrick Smith, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, mostly treats Covid-19 patients at a hospital in New York City. He revealed the tragic last words of a dying man, who was about to be placed on a ventilator: “Who’s going to pay for it?”
On seeing the patient suffer, he understood that the patient would not recover once he would be placed on the ventilator. Hence, Smith and his colleagues called for the man’s wife. They felt that it might be their last chance to say good bye to each other.
“I was very sad and honestly, a little horrified. This demonstrates that we have a profound failure when one has to worry about their finances when they’re dealing with much bigger issues that have to do with life or death.”said Smith.
The bigger picture
Smith did not have an answer to his patient’s question though the question was a valid one. Instead, he turned the conversation to getting the man to talk to his spouse one last time. Despite the tragic circumstances, people are more worried about finances even when they are on their death bed.
Though the United States is the only developed nation without Universal health care. High costs discourages people from visiting the doctor to get checked even if they feel ill. Patients have to pay for the visit.They have to pay for the other tests and any treatment, be it coronavirus or any other illness they may turn out to have.
“The pandemic has highlighted a lot of structural inadequacies in our country, not only the response to the pandemic itself, but our approach to health care coverage,” Smith said.
