Unemployed and uninsured, 41-year-old Kathy Myers couldn't afford to get her injured shoulder treated, so she came up with a radical plan: she shot herself to get free medical care!
Kathy Myers' troubles started when her 80-lb Golden Lab yanked on his leash during a skirmish with her Chihuahuas. The big dog yanked Myer's shoulder as well, injuring her rotator cuff.
After a month of agonizing pain, the unemployed 41-year-old used her in-laws' gun to take matters into her own hands. She placed icepacks and pillows around her head and neck, and then pulled the trigger, according to Wood TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Myers says she made a rational choice: she had hoped that the doctors who mended her flesh wound would also fix her rotator cuff.
Alas, the plan backfired:
Last Thursday doctors treated the bullet wound, but instead of fixing her injured shoulder, they gave her some antiinflammatory drugs and sent her home.
Though shooting yourself to get medical care may seem a bit extreme, Myers told reporters at WSBT-TV in South Bend, Ind., that she has no "suicide wish" and that she "wants to live" despite her problems.
And her problems may only be increasing. Besides being in even greater pain, Myers might have to go before a judge to face a charge of firing a weapon within city limits.
Aina Hunter of CBS News has more: Link (Photo: CBS)
I had to pay for my meds, but you can go to Walmart or shop around for the cheapest place to buy them.
There is NO reason for this woman to not have had medical care. She either did not understand how to get it or there's more to the story.
How do you think all the illegals get care here w/o health insurance? They go to the hospital ER and then they don't pay. Easy.
Americans can do it, too. Although many won't and prefer to set up payments.
I once paid off an unexpected ER bill at a hospital in Austin at 10 dollars a month. Hospitals are not evil, they will work with you.
And each state has it's own programs.
Part of the problem might be that most people do not know what options are available to them. Like I stated in my first comment. There is healthcare available to the unemployed people in Michigan. If that woman lives under the poverty level, she could also be elligble for several other programs as well.
I am european, and being a doctor or in medicine is not considered a job but a public duty.
People shooting themselves to get to a doctor..sounds medieval
Amen. I've always said that if there's one thing a nation should provide for its citizens, it's health and well-being. Else, what's the point of forming a nation?
Remember, by providing our nation with health care, we are providing for _ourselves_.