Paying for Care

The same child with the murmur actually had to be sent to the local public hospital to receive further tests and studies because of a suspected coagulopathy. The part that worries me is that we sent them from an almost free clinic (less than a dollar to treat a child) to a hospital where they may have to pay for relatively expensive tests and medicines. I spent a while convincing the mother that it was worth it, because it could save the child’s life. At the end of the day, I am left wondering if they ever made it to the hospital, and if they are going to be able to treat him. I am a huge advocate for the free clinics, but now each case that may not get the proper care when we can’t give it breaks my heart.

Similarly, a 3 year old boy who was starting to show signs of complications of otitis media (mastoid tenderness and severe otorrhea, worse than I have ever seen!) was sent to the pharmacy with a prescription for Rocephin, and asked to find someone to inject it in him for the next 5 days, because there was none at the clinic. This is a fairly common practice, especially in the clinics or hospitals where patients have to pay for their own medicine. But this is a child who we want to treat fast, in a family who may not have the means to buy the medicine (we discussed this with the mother) may delay it, when the child clearly needed treatment.

In the end, perhaps it comes down to something of a control issue. If there is something I can sort of fix, I want it to be fixed, even if not by my doing. I just want the control of fixing it or knowing it will be fixed. In reality, I suppose that level of hope may be over-stepping my bounds, but I always want the kids to get better fast. Here, things seem to be more complex.