InfoAnda - PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care's victims

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Ke$ha sets female download record in U.S. | 31 December 2009
Fiji bans 'inciteful' Christian conference | 31 May 2009
China promises to keep exchange rate steady | 18 February 2009

Russian 'arms dealer' Bout 'rejected plea bargain' | 3 January 2011

">Forum Views () ">Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care's victims

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care's victims By MARY CLARE JALONICK,Associated Press Writer AP - Monday, June 15 CROW AGENCY, Mont. - Ta'Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt. ADVERTISEMENT When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed. Ta'Shon's pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children's hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members. A few weeks later, a charity sent the whole family to Disney World so Ta'Shon could see Cinderella's Castle, her biggest dream. She never got to see the castle, though. She died in her hotel bed soon after the family arrived in Florida. "Maybe it would have been treatable," says her great-aunt, Ada White, as she stoically recounts the last few months of Ta'Shon's short life. Stephanie Little Light cries as she recalls how she once forced her daughter to walk when she was in pain because the doctors told her it was all in the little girl's head. Ta'Shon's story is not unique in the Indian Health Service system, which serves almost 2 million American Indians in 35 states. On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is "don't get sick after June," when the federal dollars run out. It's a sick joke, and a sad one, because it's sometimes true, especially on the poorest reservations where residents cannot afford health insurance. Officials say they have about half of what they need to operate, and patients know they must be dying or about to lose a limb to get serious care. Wealthier tribes can supplement the federal health service budget with their own money. But poorer tribes, often those on the most remote reservations, far away from city hospitals, are stuck with grossly substandard care. The agency itself describes a "rationed health care system." The sad fact is an old fact, too. The U.S. has an obligation, based on a 1787 agreement between tribes and the government, to provide American Indians with free health care on reservations. But that promise has not been kept. About one-third more is spent per capita on health care for felons in federal prison, according to 2005 data from the health service. In Washington, a few lawmakers have tried to bring attention to the broken system as Congress attempts to improve health care for millions of other Americans. But tightening budgets and the relatively small size of the American Indian population have worked against them. "It is heartbreaking to imagine that our leaders in Washington do not care, so I must believe that they do not know," Joe Garcia, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in his annual state of Indian nations' address in February. ___ When it comes to health and disease in Indian country, the statistics are staggering. American Indians have an infant death rate that is 40 percent higher than the rate for whites. They are twice as likely to die from diabetes, 60 percent more likely to have a stroke, 30 percent more likely to have high blood pressure and 20 percent more likely to have heart disease. American Indians have disproportionately high death rates from unintentional injuries and suicide, and a high prevalence of risk factors for obesity, substance abuse, sudden infant death syndrome, teenage pregnancy, liver disease and hepatitis. While campaigning on Indian reservations, presidential candidate Barack Obama cited this statistic: After Haiti, men on the impoverished Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota have the lowest life expectancy in the Western Hemisphere. Those on reservations qualify for Medicare and Medicaid coverage. But a report by the Government Accountability Office last year found that many American Indians have not applied for those programs because of lack of access to the sign-up process; they often live far away or lack computers. The report said that some do not sign up because they believe the government already has a duty to provide them with health care. The office of minority health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Indian Health Service, notes on its Web site that American Indians "frequently contend with issues that prevent them from receiving quality medical care. These issues include cultural barriers, geographic isolation, inadequate sewage disposal and low income." Indeed, Indian health clinics often are ill-equipped to deal with such high rates of disease, and poor clinics do not have enough money to focus on preventive care. The main problem is a lack of federal money. American Indian programs are not a priority for Congress, which provided the health service with $3.6 billion this budget year. Officials at the health service say they can't legally comment on specific cases such as Ta'Shon's. But they say they are doing the best they can with the money they have _ about 54 cents on the dollar they need. One of the main problems is that many clinics must "buy" health care from larger medical facilities outside the health service because the clinics are not equipped to handle more serious medical conditions. The money that Congress provides for those contract health care services is rarely sufficient, forcing many clinics to make "life or limb" decisions that leave lower-priority patients out in the cold. "The picture is much bigger than what the Indian Health Service can do," says Doni Wilder, an official at the agency's headquarters in Rockville, Md., and the former director of the agency's Northwestern region. "Doctors every day in our organization are making decisions about people not getting cataracts removed, gall bladders fixed." On the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, Indian Health Service staff say they are trying to improve conditions. They point out recent improvements to their clinic, including a new ambulance bay. But in interviews on the reservation, residents were eager to share stories about substandard care. Rhonda Sandland says she couldn't get help for her advanced frostbite until she threatened to kill herself because of the pain _ several months after her first appointment. She says she was exposed to temperatures at more than 50 below, and her hands turned purple. She eventually couldn't dress herself, she says, and she visited the clinic over and over again, sometimes in tears. "They still wouldn't help with the pain so I just told them that I had a plan," she said. "I was going to sleep in my car in the garage." She says the clinic then decided to remove five of her fingers, but a visiting doctor from Bismarck, N.D., intervened, giving her drugs instead. She says she eventually lost the tops of her fingers and the top layer of skin. The same clinic failed to diagnose Victor Brave Thunder with congestive heart failure, giving him Tylenol and cough syrup when he told a doctor he was uncomfortable and had not slept for several days. He eventually went to a hospital in Bismarck, which immediately admitted him. But he had permanent damage to his heart, which he attributed to delays in treatment. Brave Thunder, 54, died in April while waiting for a heart transplant. "You can talk to anyone on the reservation and they all have a story," says Tracey Castaway, whose sister, Marcella Buckley, said she was in $40,000 of debt because of treatment for stomach cancer. Buckley says she visited the clinic for four years with stomach pains and was given a variety of diagnoses, including the possibility of a tapeworm and stress-related stomachaches. She was eventually told she had Stage 4 cancer that had spread throughout her body. Ron His Horse is Thunder, chairman of the Standing Rock tribe, says his remote reservation on the border between North Dakota and South Dakota can't attract or maintain doctors who know what they are doing. Instead, he says, "We get old doctors that no one else wants or new doctors who need to be trained." His Horse is Thunder often travels to Washington to lobby for more money and attention, but he acknowledges that improvements are tough to come by. "We are not one congruent voting bloc in any one state or area," he said. "So we don't have the political clout." ___ On another reservation 200 miles north of Standing Rock, Ardel Baker, a member of North Dakota's Three Affiliated Tribes, knows all too well the truth behind the joke about money running out. Baker went to her local clinic with severe chest pains and was sent by ambulance to a hospital more than an hour away. It wasn't until she got there that she noticed she had a note attached to her, written on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services letterhead. "Understand that Priority 1 care cannot be paid for at this time due to funding issues," the letter read. "A formal denial letter has been issued." She lived, but she says she later received a bill for more than $5,000. "That really epitomizes the conflict that we have," says Robert McSwain, deputy director of the Indian Health Service. "We have to move the patient out, it's an emergency. We need to get them care." It was too late for Harriet Archambault, according to the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who has told her story more than once in the Senate. Dorgan says Archambault died in 2007 after her medicine for hypertension ran out and she couldn't get an appointment to refill it at the nearest clinic, 18 miles away. She drove to the clinic five times and failed to get an appointment before she died. Dorgan's swath of the country is the hardest hit in terms of Indian health care. Many reservations there are poor, isolated, devoid of economic development opportunities and subject to long, harsh winters _ making it harder for the health service to recruit doctors to practice there. While the agency overall has an 18 percent vacancy rate for doctors, that rate jumps to 38 percent for the region that includes the Dakotas. That region also has a 29 percent vacancy rate for dentists, and officials and patients report there is almost no preventive dental care. Routine procedures such as root canals are rarely seen here. If there's a problem with a tooth, it is simply pulled. Dorgan has led efforts in Congress to bring attention to the issue. After many years of talking to frustrated patients at home in North Dakota, he says he believes the problems are systemic within the embattled agency: incompetent staffers are transferred instead of fired; there are few staff to handle complaints; and, in some cases, he says, there is a culture of intimidation within field offices charged with overseeing individual clinics. The senator has also probed waste at the agency. A 2008 GAO report, along with a follow-up report this year, accused the Indian Health Service of losing almost $20 million in equipment, including vehicles, X-ray and ultrasound equipment and numerous laptops. The agency says some of the items were later found. Dorgan persuaded Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to consider an American Indian health improvement bill last year, and the bill passed in the Senate. It would have directed Congress to provide about $35 billion for health programs over the next 10 years, including better access to health care services, screening and mental health programs. A similar bill died in the House, though, after it became entangled in an abortion dispute. The growing political clout of some remote reservations may bring some attention to health care woes. Last year's Democratic presidential primary played out in part in the Dakotas and Montana, where both Obama and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first presidential candidates to aggressively campaign on American Indian reservations there. Both politicians promised better health care. Obama's budget for 2010 includes an increase of $454 million, or about 13 percent, over this year. Also, the stimulus bill he signed this year provided for construction and improvements to clinics. ___ Back in Montana, Ta'Shon's parents are doing what they can to bring awareness to the issue. They have prepared a slideshow with pictures of her brief life; she is seen dressed up in traditional regalia she wore for dance competitions with a bright smile on her face. Family members approached Dorgan at a Senate field hearing on American Indian health care after her death in 2006, hoping to get the little girl's story out. "She was a gift, so bright and comforting," says Ada White of her niece, whom she calls her granddaughter according to Crow tradition. "I figure she was brought here for a reason." Nearby, the clinic on the Crow reservation seems mostly empty, aside from the crowded waiting room. The hospital is down several doctors, a shortage that management attributes recruitment difficulties and the remote location. Diane Wetsit, a clinical coordinator, said she finds it difficult to think about the congressional bailout for Wall Street. "I have a hard time with that when I walk down the hallway and see what happens here," she says. ___ On the Net: Indian Health Service: http://www.ihs.gov/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Department's office of minority health: http://tinyurl.com/l9qzuq National Congress of American Indians' health care issues: http://tinyurl.com/krs986 Senate Indian Affairs Committee: http://indian.senate.gov GAO reports: http://tinyurl.com/ljq6fb, http://tinyurl.com/n7kdpa Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: World Obama eyes tighter controls on banks, Wall StreetAP - Monday, June 15 Michelle Obama, girls get rare London palace tourAP - Monday, June 15 Mousavi seeks to overturn Iran election resultReuters - 1 hour 22 minutes ago PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care's victimsAP - Monday, June 15 Miss. governor tests 2012 GOP waters in Iowa, NHAP - Monday, June 15 Most Popular – World Viewed Earth-Venus smash-up possible in 3.5 billion years: study Dumped mattress lands cash in trash in Israel Obama signs note for girl who played hooky to see him Paris bailiffs chase Saudi princess for unpaid bills Luanda is world's most expensive expat city: survey View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

Other News on Sunday, 14 June 2009
US Embassy: 2 more US contractors released in Iraq
Berlusconi denounces 'subversive' smear campaign
Clashes erupt in Iran over disputed election
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates official birthday
Saudi's Kingdom hires Emaar for kilometre-high skyscraper
Iraqi leaders rally after murder of Sunni lawmaker
Paris bailiffs chase Saudi princess for unpaid bills
G8 finance chiefs dampen recovery hopes
Venezuela TV channel urges Chavez talks | International |
New Moroccan party wins most local election seats | International |
Berlusconi complains of subversive campaign | International |
6,000 climate activists rally in Australia
N Korea vows to build more nuclear bombs after UN sanction
Bachchans take early honours at 'Bollywood Oscars'
AP Interview: Detainee move to Palau is tentative
Sheriff: Arizona home invaders wanted all dead
Clinton praises new UN tools against North Korea
North Korea issues nuclear threats
Calif kids quarantined in China over flu scare
Backers mourn cleric; Taliban claim fatal attacks
U.S. firm accuses China of stealing software: report | Technology |
American student grilled in Italy sex-murder trial
NKorea: Will never give up nuclear ambitions
Baxter in 'full production' of swine flu vaccine
4 years in Afghanistan, Turks suffer only 1 attack
White House keeps close watch on Iran campaign
Pakistan's Zardari vows to fight 'until the end'
Lejeune water study finds no definite disease link
Pakistan says 41 militants killed in NW offensive
Trail to commemorate 'Long Walk' divides tribes
Afghan ballots to have 41 candidates for president
Museum experts ID birds that bring down planes
Inmate reporters are pen men with a difference
US says no recovery, 'too early' to cut stimulus
Pakistan unveils deficit budget, ups defence spend
Pakistan's 09/10 budget shows dependence on friends
G8 finance chiefs see 'signs of stabilisation'
Kapoor dismisses 'Slumdog' criticism
Could Palin flap be Letterman's Hugh Grant?
Fighting the war on terror with outsourcing
Communism propaganda exhibit brings Bulgarians smiles
Tanya Tucker reconnects with fans at CMA festival
Venezuela Bans Coke Zero Citing Drink's Danger To Health
Judge Acquits "Phony Toni" Of Fooling Songstress Braxton Fans
Missouri Family Shocked To Find Their Photo In Prague Ad
Miss California USA Carrie Prejean Stripped Of Crown
Heather Graham Wants To "Get Naked" At "The Hangover's" London Premiere
Mariah Carey Insists On Recording Her New Album Only At Night
Iran cracks down on reformists after vote sparks riots
Paris bailiffs chase Saudi princess for unpaid bills
U.S. company accuses China of stealing software
Ahmadinejad's victory greeted by Tehran protests | International |
Britain to unveil Iraq inquiry this week: reports
Former senior minister killed in Ingushetia: report
SNC-Lavalin bags 1.1 bln dlr contract in Algeria
US switches to all-digital TV
Ahmadinejad's victory greeted by Tehran protests
Netanyahu to outline Israel's policies in speech | International |
Doomed Air France flight crashed suddenly: experts
Tribal fighters attack south Sudan food barges
Gul, Parnell gatecrash T20 batting paradise
Mobile phones, Facebook, YouTube cut in Iran
Koenigsegg co-owner confident of saving Saab: report
Tribal fighters attack South Sudan food barges | International |
Israel's foreign minister sees threat in Iran vote
Mobile phones, Facebook, YouTube cut in Iran
GOP says Democrats' climate bill is another tax
FBI: Holocaust Museum suspect expected to survive
Sotomayor impresses in interviews, senators say
Pilot of small plane dies in crash at NH resort
Hiker falls to his death from Yosemite's Half Dome
Obama looks to relocate Gitmo detainees overseas
Bill Clinton: United States growing more diverse
Student charged with keeping teachers from grading
Malaysian opposition party reforms voting rules
800,000 callers phone digital TV hot line
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,312
Mixed-marriage love story tops 'Bollywood Oscars'
Product Recall: Soft Mexican-style cheese
Myanmar dismisses EU concerns over Karen refugees
China confirms 22 more cases of swine flu
'Drunk' Cahill kicked out of nightclub
Coach backs Gower's shaky Italian rugby debut
NKorea's Kim praises military amid nuclear moves
French inflict further injury pain on All Blacks
Analysis: NKorean nuclear moves tied to succession
Hundreds honor David Carradine at funeral
G8 talks turn spotlight on Europe's banks
Shape up for investors, Africa told at WEF
Emerging big four economies flaunt power at summit
Nestle expanding in SEAsia despite crisis: CEO
Bollywood's Jodhaa Akbar wins at Indian film awards | Entertainment |
Hundreds honor David Carradine at funeral
In rare fest appearance, the Boss plays Bonnaroo
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Bollywood's Jodhaa Akbar wins at Indian film awards
Thousands join gay pride parades in Europe
'Jodhaa Akbar' dominates Bollywood awards
Somali Islamists issue blanket ban on movies
Netanyahu could use Iran vote in policy speech
Two policemen killed in Chechnya: report
Two killed in clash in Turkey's Kurdish southeast
Netanyahu set to deliver peace policy speech | International |
Most Israelis could live with a nuclear Iran: poll | International |
Netanyahu set to deliver peace policy speech
Blast in Pakistan market kills 8; U.S. drone strikes | International |
Taliban raids increase, plan to disrupt Afghan poll: government | International |
Israeli PM to unveil Mideast peace policy
Yemen says arrests Saudi financer of al Qaeda | International |
Madagascar's government quits crisis talks | International |
Iran leading reformist says more than 100 arrested
South Sudan river ambush kills at least 40: official | International |
Netanyahu unlikely to back Palestinian state: observers
Airbus urges patience on crash, says A330 safe | International |
Belarus-Russia rift widens, Minsk snubs Moscow meet | International |
Obama eyes tighter controls on banks, Wall Street
PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care's victims
Hiroshima mayor 'fury' over N.Korea nuclear plans
Truckdriver dies in fiery Calif. freeway crash
The Nation's Weather
Blast in Pakistan market kills 8
Pakistan: Suspected US missile, bomb kill 13
Christian Albin, 'culinary Rip van Winkle,' dies
Swine flu cases jump in Thailand, New Zealand
Authorities: teen arrested in Fla. cat mutilations
5,000 cabbies strike in NW China
Orthodox Jews launch kosher search engine | Technology |
Pakistan blast kills eight
Australia set to raise swine flu alert level
NKorea warns of nuclear war amid rising tensions
Afghan gov't: No control in 5 districts in Helmand
Vietnam arrests defender of pro-democracy activists
Pakistan budget seen having little impact on stocks
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog skewers Bonnaroo
China's first gay pride festival closes
Malawi father drops fight to stop Madonna adoption | Entertainment |
'Best job' Brit 'no whingeing Pom'
Radford plans Spanish civil war movie
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01