McClatchy DC Logo

Commentary: Discrimination is even more painful in hospitals | McClatchy Washington Bureau

×
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Subscriber Services

    • All White House
    • Russia
    • All Congress
    • Budget
    • All Justice
    • Supreme Court
    • DOJ
    • Criminal Justice
    • All Elections
    • Campaigns
    • Midterms
    • The Influencer Series
    • All Policy
    • National Security
    • Guantanamo
    • Environment
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Water Rights
    • Guns
    • Poverty
    • Health Care
    • Immigration
    • Trade
    • Civil Rights
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • All Nation & World
    • National
    • Regional
    • The East
    • The West
    • The Midwest
    • The South
    • World
    • Diplomacy
    • Latin America
    • Investigations
  • Podcasts
    • All Opinion
    • Political Cartoons

  • Our Newsrooms

Opinion

Commentary: Discrimination is even more painful in hospitals

Leonard Pitts - The Miami Herald

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 15, 2009 05:18 PM

Your wife is dying.

One moment everything was fine. You were in your stateroom on the cruise ship – it was to be an anniversary cruise – unpacking your things. The kids were in the adjoining stateroom playing with your wife. Suddenly, they banged on the door crying that mom was hurt.

So now you're in the hospital – Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital – waiting for word, and it's not coming. They tell you, Joe (we'll call you Joe), you can't be with her. You plead with them, to no avail. No, Joe, sorry, Joe, we can't tell you anything.

One hour turns to two, two to four, four to six. Your wife is dying, and no one she loves is there.

SIGN UP

Finally, in the eighth hour, you reach her bedside. You are just in time to stand beside the priest as he administers last rites.

Your wife is dead. Her name was Lisa Marie Pond. She was 39.

It happened, Feb. 18-19, 2007, except that Pond's spouse was not a man named Joe, but a woman named Janice.

Read the complete story at miamiherald.com

  Comments  

Videos

“It’s not mine,” Pompeo says of New York Times op-ed

Trump and Putin shake hands at G20 Summit

View More Video

Trending Stories

Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting

December 27, 2018 10:36 AM

Ted Cruz’s anti-Obamacare crusade continues with few allies

December 24, 2018 10:33 AM

Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier

April 13, 2018 06:08 PM

With no agreement on wall, partial federal shutdown likely to continue until 2019

December 21, 2018 03:02 PM

California Republicans fear even bigger trouble ahead for their wounded party

December 27, 2018 09:37 AM

Read Next

This is not what Vladimir Putin wanted for Christmas

Opinion

This is not what Vladimir Putin wanted for Christmas

By Markos Kounalakis

    ORDER REPRINT →

December 20, 2018 05:12 PM

Orthodox Christian religious leaders worldwide are weakening an important institution that gave the Russian president outsize power and legitimacy.

KEEP READING

MORE OPINION

The solution to the juvenile delinquency problem in our nation’s politics

Opinion

The solution to the juvenile delinquency problem in our nation’s politics

December 18, 2018 06:00 AM
High-flying U.S. car execs often crash when when they run into foreign laws

Opinion

High-flying U.S. car execs often crash when when they run into foreign laws

December 13, 2018 06:09 PM
Putin wants to divide the West. Can Trump thwart his plan?

Opinion

Putin wants to divide the West. Can Trump thwart his plan?

December 11, 2018 06:00 AM
George H.W. Bush, Pearl Harbor and America’s other fallen

Opinion

George H.W. Bush, Pearl Harbor and America’s other fallen

December 07, 2018 03:42 AM
George H.W. Bush’s secret legacy: his little-known kind gestures to many

Opinion

George H.W. Bush’s secret legacy: his little-known kind gestures to many

December 04, 2018 06:00 AM
Nicaragua’s ‘House of Cards’ stars another corrupt and powerful couple

Opinion

Nicaragua’s ‘House of Cards’ stars another corrupt and powerful couple

November 29, 2018 07:50 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

McClatchy Washington Bureau App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Newsletters
Learn More
  • Customer Service
  • Securely Share News Tips
  • Contact Us
Advertising
  • Advertise With Us
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story