WHAT A HEEL: Insult To Injury
Amber Joy Milbrodt, 29, says she sat in Parkland Memorial Hospital's emergency department 19 hours waiting to get treated for a fracture in her leg, but got a bill for $162 from the Dallas hospital even though she never saw a doctor, reports The Associated Press. Parkland officials justified the bill because a nurse spent time checking her vital signs during a triage assessment. Milbrodt ended up putting her leg in a brace and thinks the fracture is healing. As it happens, a few days before this incident a 58-year-old man complaining of stomach pains suffered a fatal heart attack after waiting in the hospital’s ER 19 hours. For her part, the uninsured Milbrodt does not plan to pay the bill; Baylor University Medical Center and other Dallas hospitals do not charge people who do not see a doctor.
[Hat Tip: The Heel, an Ivy-educated attorney with a prestigious New York firm, and occasional contributor to this blog.]
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