All around they have the tooth bus that goes to the poorer areas. NO thank you for Socialized medicine

I've never had a cavity :-) How bout that?

ok I have a couple of points

1. bill clinton tried to introduce universal healthcare twice during his presidency and the senate rejected him
2. having lived in 2 countries that provide free healthcare for its citizens (one being australia nd the second being england), dentistry is NOT covered for free (optical is also not covered) you have to be on government assistance in some way in order to see a free dentist, even then you have to wait a couple of years and the dentists they have are not of good quality. I have currently forked out over $1000 since getting home in december to pay for the dentistry I needed.. i was going down the path of that young boy.. I had a heinous infection and I had to borrow money from my best friends inheritance to pay for it. I am still paying it off.

Australia had and I repeat HAD the best healthcare system in the world but now due to our extremely conservative (and I hate to say it but probably very smart government) our healthcare is being taken away from us because of the ENORMOUS amount of money
obesity and all obsesity related health issues (australia is second to america in the fattest nations)
smoking related healh problems
and alcohol related medical problems are taking away from the national budget

I pay 30% tax on my salary (which is over $250 a week) and a yearly 1% additional tax on my annual income for medicare (which ends up adding $400-$600 to my tax bill every year - which could be alleviated if I had private health insurance - which I simply cant afford right now) in addition to a 10% goods and services tax I spend on EVERYTHING I buy and use within Australia (so do you get that? the money I have in my hand that I've already paid 30% tax on is additionally eaten up another 10% on ANYTHING I spend that money on). I am getting taxed out my arsehole to see the doctor twice a year (mind you which I still have to pay an additional $20 for each visit which I never get back because the government does not pay doctors enough money for them to provide the excellent level of health care we pay for in this country)

ambulances services is not coveered which can cost over $1000 if you are picked up in one, insurance for that is an additional $50 a year.. all specialists are not paid for ie, immunologist, endocrinologists etc, all of this to get 'free' healthcare

however. having said all this. If I got cancer and had to sit in hospital for 6 months I would get a very minimal bill but this is assuming I get a major illness in my life.. which I'm hoping I wont.. but probably will.. and considering the amount of tax I pay from which I pretty much see nothing (most public systems here are now privatised) it probably evens out in the end with unsocialised medical

medicines are also subsidised generally but new medicines take up to 10 years to get on the register, so new medicines that might save your life you will have to pay the price direct from the manufacturer

its a complicated situation, I do however believe that its ever person right to have access to free healthcare and free education.

Yes... wisdom tooth is prone to infection. Once it pushes through (if it pushes through) it will hide back under the gum, bringing bacteria with it.... and this will continue. If the infection gets bad enough, you can die.

terrible story. I've never heard of anyone dying from complications from a tooth infection, but I guess it happens. I've been through a lot of painful dental bullshit (gee, I guess it wasn't bullshit, was it?) including a number of root canals, mostly due to a bad bike crash that basically destroyed my teeth and subsequently lead to infections, etc.

Never heard of anybody that died though.
I can believe it took them that long to get an appointment

The lead singer of GLU was a good friend of a good friend. If that's what you're talking about, he committed suicide by Heroin. Although, he did have teeth problems early in his music career with the band.

Im not sure that would have helped, unless there was a government imposed a requirement for ALL medicine to be socialized

If I understand that right, he qualifies for govt help to get free care, but they couldnt find a dentist willing to accept the job.

Because people like to argue about whether or not pregnant mothers should be allowed to do meth rather than argue about universal healthcare.

It's not as rare as you think. Any infection that gets into the blood can kill you. Unfortunately for this kid, he got an infection in his tooth which is both physically close to the brain (a bad spot to have get infected) and well connected to the brain by blood vessels.

The same can happen if you get a truly bad sinus infection and your body for some reason can't fight it off.

Sorry to hear a death was the result. However, WHY are these people relying on medicaid to care for their illnesses? Get a job, get health benifits, or pay your own way when your ill. Have a nice day!

Gee! I wonder why more people don't think of that! Why don't they just get health benefits?

It's so simple!

Easier said than done. Not everone is lucky enough to have steady work and not all jobs in the US offer medical.

Either way, in the counrty that touts itself as the beacon of hope and decency in the world, it's pretty fucked up that a kid dies from an abcessed tooth when he could and should have had treatment.