ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LORI BELL MICK
I AM THE mother of a 28-year-old son who has struggled to conquer the effects of a devastating brain disease since he was 19 years old. My family has endured unrelenting anxiety as an insurance administrator, hundreds of miles away, makes decisions that may mean the virtual life or death of our son.
Our son's gene pool predisposed him to an endogenous, clinical, refractory depression and severe anxiety disorder. In the fall of 1992, he suffered a severe and profound depressive episode.
His eyes told us of the torture and terror that he felt, and his body displayed signs of intense physical pain. Yet his voice was firm as he said to me, "Mom, I need to be hospitalized."
I called my son's primary psychiatrist at the Duke University Medical Center. He advised immediate hospitalization for our son's critical condition. I was unaware of the combat that I, and my son's psychiatrists, would soon enter into as we sought preauthorization for hospital admittance.
My son and I tossed a few items into his suitcase and drove the 204 miles to Durham, N.C. When we arrived, Dr. G. was still struggling with an administrator of United Behavioral Systems of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia to obtain authorization for admission. After a 30-minute encounter, Dr. G. came to my son and me with the verdict: no approval for admission. My son and I returned home late that evening. That night and many nights thereafter, my husband and I kept a very close watch over our son.
In contrast, I tell you how an insurance company dealt with the hospitalization of my 72-year-old brother-in-law after he suffered a severe heart attack on May 20, 1996. He was hospitalized immediately, with few questions asked from his insurance provider. During the next 27 days before his death, my brother-in-law received extraordinary measures to sustain his damaged heart, including implanting a defibrillator that shocked his heart to restart several times in one day. The day he died, he was given two more EKGs and yet another chest X-ray.
My lovely sister was not asked to battle with a decision-maker from her insurance provider. She invested all her energies into caring for her husband during his final days. The cost of this episode was slightly more than $300,000, most of which was paid for by insurance.
The contrast in the medical treatment awarded to two beautiful human beings: one with a disease of the heart and one with a disease of the brain, is not only unfair, it is unethical.
LORI BELL MICK is coordinator for the New River Valley Early Intervention Council. This is an edited version of remarks made before a legislative subcommittee evaluating the future delivery of mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services in Virginia.
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