According to a January 9 article on Fox16.com in Little Rock, Arkansas a carnival cruise ship passenger was removed from the ship after the ship’s doctor said he had acute appendicitis and that it would require surgery – a procedure not able to be done on the vessel.
The passenger, Chase Kehler, was initially taken to a for-profit hospital. The bill, which required payment in full upfront, was $6,000 to be admitted and $25,000 cash for surgery.
Per Kehler’s mom in a quote from the article, “when we didn’t have the $25,000 so they stopped all of Chase’s treatment. They unhooked his IV, they gave him no more medicine.”
They had to leave the hospital and seek out a general, public hospital. Fortunately, a paramedic in the hallway rushed Chase to another private hospital where he underwent surgery. The article says that Chase did well in surgery and is waiting to be flown back to the U.S. from Cancun.
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