My little brother didn't have to Die!

My little brother Eric is the prime example of what is wrong in America. when the market crashed so did his business of swimming pool construction and sales. Along with that came the loss of health insurance.

Eric was sick and couldn't see a Dr because of no insurance and when he did see a Doctor it was only because he had to pay cash. He couldn't afford expensive tests, scans, etc. so he tried to manage his health the best he could. but he was sick and just continued to decline.

Excruciating pain forced him to the emergency room of Orlando Regional Hospital where they did hospitalize him, do a CAT scan and then told him he had a "cyst" on his Pancreas and discharged him after 5 days. He needed Pain management and had none, he need a specialist, a gastrointestinal, but they were prohibitory costly. His health continued to decline.

I brought him up here to Shands with great hopes they would help, but they sent him away saying he wasn't in their "service Area" since he was from Orlando. I feared that he may have Pancreatic cancer because it was in our family and I have suffered from Pancretitis for 16 years.

Getting far worse I told him to go to "Florida Hospital", they are owned and ran by Seventh Day Adventists and care more about the person then the bottom line. I called my old Orlando Dr that was my GI and asked him to see my brother. He did and hospitalized him that day.

Within a week he was diagnosed with cancer and fought hard until September 14 when he just passed away from the disease not being detected and treated promptly. He didn't have a chance and that isn't right, we live in America, we have the worlds finest and best in medical care and my little brother suffered because he had "Blind Faith" in his country and medical community that he would be taken care of, instead he was let down by a failed community of health care providers that consider the bottom line, the dollar to be far more important than a human life.

My little brother leaves behind 3 sons that desperately need a father in their lives because they aren't grown yet. This isn't fair, this isn't right, no one should die in America because they don't have health care. I can't bring my brother back but I can do what I can to help make change.

I am handicapped, on disability and am in Medicaid Hell, and that is a whole other story.. Health care needs to benefit humans, not create profits, especially when lives depend on it.