Prometheus 6

But I was not prepared for this question. I told the surgeon I would call back with the insurance information, which forced me to call the transferring doctor. I can't remember if the child was underinsured, uninsured or was insured by the state, but it didn't matter. When I called the surgeon back, he refused to come in. His group didn't cover "those kinds" of patients.

Such is our peculiar institution called American healthcare. We have gobs of money, the best technology, plenty of specialists, and spend the most money on healthcare in the world. Despite that, a child gets left out in the cold.

When the bottom line overrides the Hippocratic Oath
As a naive pediatric resident, I couldn't believe it when the surgeon called back and said we don't treat those kinds of patients.
By Rahul K. Parikh, M.D.

Jul. 16, 2008 | I don't remember many specific patients from my days as a resident. Like all doctors in training, I was overworked, underpaid and chronically fatigued. With that, details become murky.

What I do remember, though, are certain incidents that gave me pause and made me wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into. The kinds of situations that only residents -- who are the blunt business end of America's sloppy healthcare system -- can get stuck in.