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The cost of being sick

You'll have to forgive me for not blogging tonight. If I get a moment, I'll try to throw up some more pictures. This evening I'm working on a little snag that has cropped up in regard to the drug trial. It seems United Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration representatives at Dulles Airport are requiring our patients coming and going from Puerto Rico (in other words most of them) to have a U.S. passport.

According to my sources at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, they shouldn't need to have a passport. After all, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and Puerto Ricans are American citizens. But, it seems the counter staff and the guys standing at security missed that part in American history class. So, I'm in the process of writing to both of these entities (after many phone calls today trying to figure out how to file a complaint). I'm sure we'll get it taken care of. But, the problem is occupying my time right now.

Passports aren't cheap these days, especially for people who live in Puerto Rico on social security. We can't afford to have people drop out of the trial over a passport!

In the meantime, if you want a good read, go check out Leroy's cancer blog again. Just in case you really don't understand how urgent our country's health care crisis truly is, go read the hundreds of comments on Leroy's blog from the people who have lost careers, homes and their life savings just because they got sick. And, if you think this won't be you because you've got insurance - think again!

Check it out at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/mycancer/
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