Guest commentary: Dick Cheney and Anna Brown

Guest commentary: Dick Cheney and Anna Brown

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News articles about former Vice President Dick Cheney's heart transplant and Anna Brown's death in St. Louis illustrate the great unfairness in medical and social treatment.

At some point, Mr. Cheney complained of difficulty walking or standing, and his doctors discovered a "deep venous thrombosis (blood clot) in his left lower leg." Doctors used ultrasound to monitor his clot.
Ms. Brown voiced the same complaints, stating that her legs hurt so badly that she couldn't stand. She gave the doctors her history of having 'sprained her ankle." There is no mention in the Post-Dispatch article of whether tests or X-rays were performed to provide a conclusive diagnosis of a sprained ankle versus a broken ankle, which can have far greater consequences.

An unidentified doctor said she was "fit for jail." She underwent testing at St. Louis University Hospital, but a spokesperson said, "There was no indication of a blood clot in Brown's leg." She went to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital seeking help. Those doctors "found tenderness in her legs" that must have been significant because they authorized an ambulance to take her to St. Mary's Hospital.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/guest-commentary-dick-cheney-and-anna-brown/article_900161a6-9c8e-5b6d-b7fe-5770bdb2f8fe.html#ixzz1r6SknLMb