The Biggest Story Never Told

The news story that haunts me at year’s end is a story that got almost no attention anywhere, and begs to be told more fully. That no news organization has seen fit to do so may simply emphasize the message it seems to send.

It happened in Texas in mid-December. According to reports posted on the websites of two local television stations---the only news stories that googling could find—the Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, told the brother of Tirhas Habtegiris, a 27 year old immigrant from East Africa, that in 10 days they would take her off life support, and therefore she would die.

The woman in question had terminal cancer, but she was conscious. Her brother objected but it didn’t matter. Tirhas wanted to at least be kept alive long enough for her mother to come from East Africa to be with her when she died. But the legal process of getting her there would take longer than 10 days.

On the 11th day, the hospital disconnected her ventilator, and she died within the hour.

Her brother told reporters that he felt it would not have happened if she had health insurance. The hospital disputes this. There is apparently a law in Texas that allows such care to be withdrawn if the patient can’t pay. And there are also laws, called Futile Care laws, that mandate care be withdrawn in certain terminal cases.

If Tirhas Habtegiris was indeed fully conscious and taken off life support against her wishes because she could not pay, then it was an execution. She was given the death penalty for not being wealthy.

But is that what happened? We don’t really know. There were only two brief stories. It came to the attention of people outside Texas only because it was picked up by bloggers at Daily Kos and Booman’s Tribune, and then picked up by other blogs. Google her name and see for yourself.

Why were there only two brief stories? Is it because the facts of this case were other than those these TV stations reported? Is it because such events are so common that they are not newsworthy? Or doesn’t anyone care---in Texas, or anywhere else?

To me, that this story has not been fully reported has more significance than any story that was reported in 2005.