The Huffington Post Laura Hibbard First Posted: 09/03/11 01:32 PM ET Updated: 11/03/11 06:12 AM ET
Kyle Willis, a 24-year-old man from Ohio, died on Wednesday from a tooth infection, Cincinati's WLWT reported.
According to the station, Willis' wisdom tooth began hurting two weeks ago, and dentists said it needed to be removed.
Willis, however, was a single father without health insurance, and couldn't afford the procedure.
After developing severe headaches and facial swelling, he went to the emergency room.
Although doctors recommended antibiotics and pain medication, Willis could only afford one.
Patti Collins, Willis's aunt, told WLWT what happened next.
"'The (doctors) gave him antibiotic and pain medication. But he couldn't afford to pay for the antibiotic, so he chose the pain meds, which was not what he needed,' Collins said. Doctors told Willis' family that while the pain had stopped, the infection kept spreading -- eventually attacking his brain and causing it to swell."
Willis leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter, and family members are hoping to create a fund for her future college education.
Dr. Irvin Silverstein, a dentist at the University of California told ABC news that Willis' story isn't uncommon.
"People don't realize that dental disease can cause serious illness.The problems are not just cosmetic. Many people die from dental disease. When people are unemployed or don't have insurance, where do they go? What do they do? Silverstein said. People end up dying, and these are the most treatable, preventable diseases in the world."
Four years ago, 12-year-old Demonte Drived died after his mother, Alyce, couldn't find a dentist who took Medicaid and bacteria from a tooth abscess spread to his brain.
A Kaiser Family Foundation report found that between 2007 and 2008, the number of uninsured adults rose by 1.5 million.
ABC news added that in April the same foundation also found that 33% of people skipped dental care because they could not afford it.
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They would have no idea, as most of those that have had toothaches are the poor, how such pain can affect the judgement of the sufferer.
Some of these comments also show how having money also affects their humanity
To those i say.... don't think about the guys pain but think about the $6,000 or more per year for the next 12 years ($72,000 ) that his child will receive from Social Security. All because the HAVES do not think the HAVE NOTS do not deserve what they inherited by birth.
They abhor "obamacare" and believe that all men are created equal but not entitled to equality
Pennywise and pound foolish. You are being led by the nose and don't even know it.
First of all an abscessed tooth is no joke. The pain can become so severe that people have resorted to suicide over continuously experiencing it. This man probably wasn't even in the right state of mind, that's how excruciating the pain could have been.
If you are a rational human being then you have to recognize that the government as a whole is responsible for the health and safety of it's people. Our safety is covered under law enforcement, military, and rescue services. We pay taxes for those privileges (which should honestly be rights). Our health care system works in such a way that if you are too poor to afford insurance and you do not qualify for medicare then you either spend your life in crippling debt or you die from not having any insurance.
This is only news because it can be used to appeal to emotions of ignorant people.
This guy choose something to ameliorate pain over the substance that could actually improve his condition. That is r-worded. He made an incredibly stupid decision. If he had a broken arm would he cut it off and just get the pain meds instead of getting it set by a doctor?
Health care is not unlimited. If the government was paying for it, this guy should not be on the top of the list for treatment. Health care needs to be focuses upon young productive people if society is paying (it is not currently; young people do get it, but old people take up way too much).
Thinking along the same line as this father, I probably would have also opted to fill the prescription for the pain meds first. That way I could have worked through the pain long enough to get my next pay check to afford the antibiotic I needed. Who wouldn't? What people aren't getting is that an infection of any kind goes straight to your heart and brain. Time is not something you have.
More the tendency of Americans--99% of whom are dopes--to desire more services with less taxes has resulted in a situation where the payments on the US public debt will be equal to that amount in a few years. By 2020 medicare and interest payments could easily account for about half of all federal spending (and they likely will, unless medicare is altered).
This is reality. Americans want to pay far too little and want far too much.
I am a 36 year old, responsible adult with a family to care for. I am also a college graduate and studied nursing. Four years ago, I was working at a local medical clinic that had income based care. It didn't matter whether or not you had insurance or money because we treated you based on the treatment you needed. Dental and vision care are exceptions, and you only receive treatment based on what you can afford, which essentially makes any health problem worse. Due to the decline in the 2008 economy, I was forced to leave my job, caring for others, in a layoff along with 10,000 other nurses just in the local area alone. That doesn't include the doctors and other support staff that were also forced to find other work in completely new industries.
Thank your congressional leaders . . . Demos and Repubs.