Ecuadorian Navy Rescues Bezos After Kidney Stone Attack

theodp writes "While vacationing aboard a cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands, where the State Department warns the quality of medical facilities and services are 'generally well below U.S. standards', Gawker reports that Jeff Bezos was rescued by the Ecuadorian Navy so he could receive treatment for a kidney stone attack on New Year's Day. The Ecuadorian Navy confirmed Bezos' rescue, which involved taking Bezos by Navy helicopter from Academy Bay in Santa Cruz Island to his private jet stationed on Baltra Island."

Comments

Wait What?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the US had the worst medical system in the world. Whats this? A Socialist country (actually half of the politicians in Ecuador are communists) has worse medical treatment? That just doesn't seem right. State run medical facilities are ALWAYS better, or so I was told by the NYT.

LOL. I love these stories where reality just smacks the left in the face.

Re:Wait What?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the US had the worst medical system in the world. Whats this? A Socialist country (actually half of the politicians in Ecuador are communists) has worse medical treatment? That just doesn't seem right.

Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is, if you are looking for the best medical system for your population as a whole, it will look somewhat socialist. On the other hand, the US is well known to have one of the very best medical systems in the world -- if you have a lot of money. And then when you start talking about money, you start talking about medical insurance rather than medical skill or medical facilities, or the amount of money that doctors or drug manufacturers should earn for providing the care, and then suddenly we're talking politics and not where to find the right doctors.

Re:Wait What?

[hawguy]

I thought the US had the worst medical system in the world. Whats this? A Socialist country (actually half of the politicians in Ecuador are communists) has worse medical treatment? That just doesn't seem right. State run medical facilities are ALWAYS better, or so I was told by the NYT.

LOL. I love these stories where reality just smacks the left in the face.

Right, you'd think that an island chain with an immense population of 25,000 people would have top-rate medical care, it must be the politics that's getting in the way.

Re:Wait What?

[sjames]

If you're as rich as Bezos, health care in the U.S. isn't so bad. If you're poor, it is no better than what he was rescued from. You'll lie on the floor in your home in agony hoping the stone passes soon.

Re:Wait What?

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

It is the worst medical system in the world - for people who care what it costs. Statements like yours remind me of Mitt Romney's "What's the big deal? Borrow the money from your daddy and start a business!" comment - completely impervious to reality.

Re:Wait What?

[Garridan]

Somewhere, some people are taking too much profit, I'm sure, just I don't know who they are, or how to find out who they are, and I don't know how to change the system without changing a big part of American society in the process.

Just about everybody, except for those in care of actually doing the medicine (doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists... and janitors, who really shouldn't do the medicine, but need to be paid more). It's a deep bureaucracy where middlemen abound. Insurance companies take a huge cut, execs get paid way too much. Some rockstar surgeons get paid a cool half million a year... and they deserve every penny of that. Hospital C*Os shouldn't make anywhere near that. But they control the budget... so that'll never happen.

This is why social health makes sense to people. All the money is getting distributed wrong. Sure, there will be more overhead and more tiers of hierarchy, but the higher levels of the bureaucracy are government jobs with relatively low pay. It seems like a mixed public/private system is best: let the rich spend their millions on shorter lines and more advanced care -- but if you need to pay to get healthy, the poor get sicker, hence poorer, and drain the economy.

Re:Wait What?

[Joe_Dragon]

In social australia doctors get paid about the same as they do in usa and over all costs are much lower and most people are covered (at a lower cost to them then people pay in the usa)

Re:Wait What?

[Anonymous Coward]

for the best medical system for your population as a whole

Medical needs occur individually. We do no show up at the clinic "as a whole" for a flu shot. Socialized medicine is the ecological fallacy writ large & tragic.

That is one of the few examples where your comment is completely false -- vaccines, after all, only work if a large percentage of the population gets them. Broken legs, okay, that's individual.

Still, I don't see what's wrong with socialized anything... it seems to me that people are still throwing around the world as code for communist, without saying what they actually mean. To start in the beginning, how about that Ron Paul debate question: poor person shows up at the ER, no insurance, is going to die -- you treat them for free, or let them die? The first one seems "socialist", and the second one seems inhumane.

Re:Wait What?

[rsilvergun]

Yeah, the next time I'm feeling under the weather I'm sure the US Navy will be happy to send a helicopter to pick me up, right?

Re:Wait What?

[Garridan]

I love that you spout this black-and-white thoughtless bullshit and then deride GP for a lack of "balance". Your worldview is utterly simple. I'm an american living in a social democracy (Canada). We've got this 'universal health care' thing. It mostly works. It's better than the US in that mcdonalds & walmart employees are all covered. But, quality of care leaves much to be desired.

A typical example. It took my wife 9 months to get a NMR after a concussion -- the conversation with the doc was surreal: "What complications would an NMR find?" "Well, the worst thing would be internal bleeding in the brain." "How bad is that?" "Well, it could kill you in a week." "Are there any warning signs to look out for?" " but other than that, no." "That sounds like an emergency, can't we get bumped up the line?" "No, the system does not view this an emergency."

I've spoken to probably a dozen people about this -- everybody has a similar story. Another example, my neighbor tore a ligament in his knee, waited 7 months before he could get it reattached. During that time, he picked up an addiction to pain killers and lost 70% of the muscle mass in the leg. And then once he got the surgery, paid a few grand out of pocket for physiotherapy.

We also have huge problems getting prescription drugs. We bargain with pharmaceutical companies for drugs... and Canada has a smaller population and less bargaining power than certain markets in the US. So we literally get edged out of the market on certain pharmaceuticals. It's increasingly common in some provinces to make 'conditional surgery appointments': they'll operate if they get the necessary drugs... otherwise you go back on the waitlist.

Re:Wait What?

[MichaelSmith]

Aussie here. Its weird how expensive things can be in the US. I know US people here in Melbourne who flew back to Aus for treatment because they didn't have medical insurance while on a visit to the US. Its also funny how the best serious treatment is in the public system here. The private system will get your nose job faster but on the spot life saving surgury will be in a public hospital.

Re:Wait What?

[MichaelSmith]

I think Canada must be suffering from proximity to the US. Here in Australia I have never seen a wait of more than a week for an MRI and a head injury case would go in within a few hours.

Re:Wait What?

[ThatsMyNick]

If you are in the sea, the US coast guard would gladly do that. They will usually bill you for it, though it is likely covered by your insurance for medical evacuation.

Re:Wait What?

[TC (WC)]

Neat, I'm also in Canada and when I had head trauma they observed me and because it looked at least somewhat risky I got a CT scan within a half hour of walking into the hospital. Then when I started showing additional symptoms and the CT was reviewed I got an MRI, also within a very short period of time. The bleed ended up stopping itself.

In the year after that I had another MRI because of some continuing symptoms, in that cases there wasn't an emergency so I had to wait a while, and that's fair enough. Yeah, it's possible something horrible had happened again, but it was unlikely.

While it's certainly possible that your exchange was some horrible problem with the medical system, it's more likely that this:

"That sounds like an emergency, can't we get bumped up the line?" "No, the system does not view this an emergency."

was the doctor telling you he didn't think it was critical enough to escalate. Yeah, there is a system in place, but if a doctor actually has a reason to push for something due to a possible emergency he can do it. If you've had a concussion and it's been a little while and you're not symptomatic it's pretty darn likely that you don't have a bleed. It's not standard practice to perform imaging unless there are certain indicators:

http://www.ohri.ca/emerg/cdr/docs/cdr_cthead_poster.pdf

Re:Wait What?

[Garridan]

Don't like the taste of dick.

Coming soon Amazon MD

[captjc]

He has Amazon Prime! I'm sure a drone has already been dispatched with his new kidney and a qualified surgeon.

its great to be king

[nurb432]

Hes got the cash to be treated like that, so more power to him. I don't really see how this is 'news', unless its more stoking fires of the 'class war' that is going on.

Re:its great to be king

[the eric conspiracy]

Ordinary people get treated like that too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ALNW-USCG.jpg

Re:its great to be king

[Radak]

Airlifting people with medical emergencies from the Galapagos Islands to the Ecuadorian mainland is part of the Equadorian Navy's job description. You'd have received the same treatment and so would I.

Now, the quality of the medical care you receive afterwards might be affected by your wealth or influence, but the airlift is something they do for anybody who needs it, and it happens all the time. The only reason this is "news" is because of the notoriety of the patient, not because of the airlift.

Re:its great to be king

[jslaff]

Good thing he had Prime--he got there in two days.

Not such a big deal

[confused one]

In the U.S., this would have been handled by a U.S. Coast Guard flight if a private helicopter flight could not be chartered. In the United States the Coast Guard is a separate entity because of the Constitutional limitations of\n having our standing army and navy act as a police force within our own borders. In Ecuador, the Coast Guard is part of their Navy. This is sort of being blown out of proportion by the media because of the lack of understanding where Navy = Coast Guard in this instance.

International Travel Insurance

[Anonymous Coward]

You can get international travel insurance that will cover the cost of emergency medical evacuation back to the USA. You don't have to be a billionaire to afford it. I used to do a lot of international travel and would purchase a policy that covered me for one year. As I recall, the cost was only around $350.

Re:International Travel Insurance

[BringsApples]

Wow I've never heard of it before. I managed to find this:
http://www.travelguard.com/travelinsurance/international.asp?intcmp=clc-001-Nav-2-International

Very interesting, thanks.

Sounds like a Standard Evac Insurance Policy

[Kagato]

Business people who travel the world usually have global medical plans. Most of those plans include evacuation coverage. Medical transfers off a ship are customarily handled by a coast guard. I'm sure the insurance company had to pay for the service.

If anything the insurance company saved a little money because Bezos already had the private jet in position and that saved them the cost of an airline ticket.

Re:Sounds like a Standard Evac Insurance Policy

[ColdWetDog]

The tone and substance of this story is more than a little suspect. The hospital at Peurto Aoyra (the biggest one) is used to transporting people off island for various problems although kidney stones are usually just treated with morphine and fluids initially. They certainly could handle that. The place is sparse, but clean. The docs there are mostly military (the military, such as it is has a large presence on the island) the commercial airline is owned by the military, and, at least at Baltra (the main airport) there is no evidence of anything else but military aircraft (a grey 737 and a helicopter when I was there).

So, the story line that the "Navy" "rescued" Bezos is a bit overdone. They shipped him to the mainland on a helicopter because that's pretty much the only way to get him to the mainland short of firing up a bigger aircraft. Like pretty much anybody else.

Must be International Drama Queen Day or something.

Jeff, people with your medical history

[Anonymous Coward]

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http://www.amazon.com/Whole-World-Botanicals-Bladder-Support/dp/B0027E884M

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Re:Jeff, people with your medical history

[TheGratefulNet]

"Sorry, the kidney you have in your cart is no longer available from the seller you selected."

Rescued?

[ecotax]

It's bullshit the navy rescued anyone here. Transported, helped - many verbs would have fitted better.
Kidney stones supposedly hurt like hell (no personal experience here), but it's not something people generally die from.

Re:Rescued?

[mpoulton]

Kidney stones supposedly hurt like hell (no personal experience here), but it's not something people generally die from.

They sure can be fatal. I would have died from a kidney stone if it weren't for modern medical technology. A stone which is too large to pass obstructs the ureter, which prevents the kidney from draining urine into the bladder. A kidney that can't drain will be permanently damaged and fail within a day or two. Worse, stones can become infected (as mine did), resulting in a kidney infection which will rapidly cause permanent damage and will progress to sepsis and death within days.

Kidney Stones

[jklovanc]

The general "treatment" for kidney stones to to fill the patient full of pain killers and/or smooth muscle relaxants and wait. Later an ultrasound would be done to see if other measures need to be taken. Kidney stones are rarely if ever life threatening; They are just very painful.

A RICH MAN'S KIDNEY IS WORLD NEWS

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun

Re:A RICH MAN'S KIDNEY IS WORLD NEWS

[radarskiy]

I bet you think this post is about you.

Re:I don't see what the problem is?

[ArsonSmith]

They're upset because they said there was a location that had worse medical care than the US. Obviously this isn't true.

How to fail at lying

[Immerman]

This sentence is fal.... is fa-a-a...
Hmph. Fine.
This sentence is true.

The fires don't really need much stoking

[rsilvergun]

The best kind of war is one where the other side doesn't even know it's being fought...

I expect

[WillyWanker]

That the kidney stone will serve a life sentence for this unprovoked attack on one of the world's most respected businessmen and all-around asshole?

I had a kidney stone while travelling last month

[langelgjm]

I had a kidney stone while travelling last month in South Africa. The pain developed over a day until I was doubled over on the floor, unable to concentrate on anything. At that point I realized I needed to go the hospital.

I went to the ER and was admitted within about 15 minutes. They did blood and urine tests, gave me morphine (I assume it was morphine, it took the pain away completely) and IV fluids, then did a CT scan. A doctor saw me, and I was discharged in about five hours with a filter cup and antibiotics. The stone had made it through the ureter and was small enough to pass without issue.

I paid for everything out of pocket. The total cost of ER admission, doctor's fee, CT scan + radiologist report, blood and urine tests, and IV fluids was USD $550. As far as I can tell, they did not charge me for the morphine, the antibiotics, or the filter cup. Also they gave me copies of my test results and a CD with my CT scan images, and I did not even have to ask for them.

From what I hear, a CT scan alone can cost thousands of dollars in the U.S. In some ways I am glad that this happened when I was travelling... my co-pays back in the U.S. might have exceeded the entire cost in South Africa. I probably could have flown there, gone to the hospital, and flown home while still spending less than what it would have cost in the U.S. I really see why people do medical tourism. It could make sense even if you have insurance.

I should note that this was a private hospital in Cape Town. The hospital was not fancy like we are used to seeing in the U.S., but the staff were professional and knowledgeable, and the quality of care was first rate.

Re:I had a kidney stone while travelling last mont

[TechnoGrl]

What they gave you - believe it or not - was Ibuprofen IV. Morphine will not take away the pain of kidney stones (it's that bad!) but massive ibuprofen takes the pain away in a really short time. Been there done (and screamed) that.

Re:Insurance

[BringsApples]

My sig is relevant to every situation. :)
See where it came from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_too_shall_pass

There is an old fable that a king had his wise men figure out what phrase could be said under all circumstances. They supposedly came up with this.

Everyone is missing the REAL story

[93 Escort Wagon]

Jeff Bezos went on a cruise? Did he suddenly turn 80 or something?