#1 healthcare blogger Amy Tenderich is hopping mad about a diabetic arrested for being hypoglycemic, and she’s rallying the Type 1 diabetics to the cause. Go over and read it — Diabetes Mine: Would You Believe… Doug Burns Going to Trial?. It’s another case of the police being boneheaded and a DA too scared to admit that they’re wrong–presumably in the police associations pocket come reelection time. But to force this to trial? Idiotic.
I have a great friend at college who went hypoglycemic and ended up falling into a river, and nearly drowned — until a medical student figured out what was happening and gave her some coke. I read a book by a Brit called “Metal jam” which showed the experiences of a Type 1 Diabetic going hypo. The rough answer is to figure out what’s up and get them sugar OR insulin (depending on whether they’ve had too much insulin or not enough!) But it’s a very dangerous situation that not enough people know about. Here’s Amy on one nasty time it very nearly happened to her.
And here’s Amy on ways to help Doug. I am very interested to see the power of the social networking in this case. And good luck to Doug.
UPDATE: I guess the Redwood City DA didn’t fancy having Amy sic a few hundred mad diabetics on him, so the charges have been dropped.
Categories: Uncategorized
Unfortunately, there is a darker side to all this. See my latest post at
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/06/when_things_get.html
– AmyT
At the risk of tugging too hard on the ends…
This is why market-based healthcare gives me the willies. It is possible to refuse treatment because of some perceived moral weakness. The “market” isn’t fair because people make financial or legal judgements of suitability based on prejudged shortcuts. All blacks are deadbeats. All kids are on drugs. All sick people deserve it.
This hard-ass approach is just plain sick. Doesn’t matter that you were having a health emergency, you didn’t do what Mr. Policeman said, so you go to jail. Do they intend to charge people who are unconscious and don’t immediately jump happily into the stinking back of a squad car so they can be raped in prison?
Riiight. So. I know that as a cop you hear every kind of excuse, but if it’s a medical thing, let’s not assume everyone is guilty of something and deal with the problem at hand? No?
Guess not. That’d be weak, right? Damned libruls always ruining everything with compassion…
One thing Doug Burns has going for him is he’s white and good looking, juries like that. If he was black with diabetes he’d be up for the death penalty. Have you ever seen a police department admit it was wrong – ever? Once the prosecutor ball starts rolling it won’t stop. And juries usually never go against police.
Here in NC it took about six very well paid lawyers with their own investigators to get the local DA to send the case for review to the AG’s office out of fear for his law license – which found the white, rich, Duke Lacrosse players innocent. Similar cases against blacks never see it past local DAs and it usually takes years in prison to finally find out they’re innocent.