Accidents are not accidents when a drunk jumps out the window–from the third floor.
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“DEADBEAT DOLT: Ronald McIntyre was such a deadbeat father that a warrant was issued for his arrest for failure to pay child support. He had accumulated a bill of $5,979.66, and sheriff’s deputies in Chicago, Ill., heard he was staying at a friend’s apartment. They went to serve the arrest warrant but McIntyre, who goes by the nickname “Boobie”, wasn’t inside. A child pointed to the window, and a deputy looked out to see that McIntyre had jumped out to avoid capture. There were two problems with the tactic: the apartment is on the third floor of the building, and the landing area, while it looks like grass, is actually artificial turf over concrete. McIntyre was hospitalized with multiple compound fractures to both legs. (Chicago Sun-Times) …Where he will accumulate a bill for significantly more than $5,979.”
…and for which either hapless taxpayers will pay, or the responsibly insured via increased premiums so that insurers can pay the bill.
One of the biggest unheralded costs of health care is addiction-related behaviors that lead to “accidents.” Studies support the idea that well over 50% of all such accidents have their roots in alcoholism. The case of Ronald McIntyre, a deadbeat dad with a warrant committing an act of what would be considered by most gross stupidity, is more likely a result of addiction-related damage to the thinking part of his brain, the neo-cortex. If true, there is little doubt that hundreds of behavioral clues were evident before McIntyre leaped. Society’s health care costs could be massively reduced by proactively identifying addiction—and providing appropriate incentives to stop the use whenever possible.
(Story and tagline from “This is True,” copyright 2010 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission. If you haven’t already subscribed to his newsletter—the free one at least, or the paid one I get, with twice the stories—I highly recommend it: www.ThisIsTrue.com.)
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