Husband couldn’t afford medical bills, kills wife

Sad and sick:

A man threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because he could no longer afford to pay for her medical care, prosecutors said in charging him with second-degree murder.
According to court documents filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Stanley Reimer walked his wife to the balcony of their apartment and kissed her before throwing her over.

Comments

Anonymous
Wow, more proof that government sponsored healthcare doesn’t work…
…no wait, proof that lack of access to healthcare can have tragic consequences.
HMMM….
Anonymous
Thank you America’s medical professionals.
Matthew
You were right the first time.
Had it been under socialized care, he probably would have thrown her out the window because there was a 2 year waiting list for the lifesaveing treatment she needed, as this Canadian doctor might point out:
http://www.gopbloggers.org/mt/archives/005009.php
If you’re going to make silly, irrelevant, tasteless, inaccurate points, they might be better kept to yourself.
Anonymous
“You were right the first time.
Had it been under socialized care, he probably would have thrown her out the window because there was a 2 year waiting list for the lifesaveing treatment she needed, as this Canadian doctor might point out:
http://www.gopbloggers.org/mt/archives/005009.php
If you’re going to make silly, irrelevant, tasteless, inaccurate points, they might be better kept to yourself”
One of the main themes on KevinMD is that socialized medicine is evil. It is not irrelevant to examine how that contention by Dr. Kevin Pho relates to the tragic incident reported in this post which deals with a man who’s wife was seriously ill:
“According to the court records, she had no health insurance to pay for medical bills that ranged from $700 to $800 per week.”
That fact is directly relevant to Dr. Kevin’s disdain for government healthcare and his contention that private healthcare is the only valid model. The woman’s healthcare woes might not have been cured by a government healthcare program but at least her bills would have been taken care of.
The fact that this tragedy puts Dr. Kevin’s seemingly heartless anti-socialized medicine stance in a bad light, but that is the way the facts play out and not the result of “silly, irrelevant, tasteless, inaccurate points,” as you would claim. That you would try to claim otherwise may be the result of your uncomfortable position of having to defend a private healthcare system which results in such inequity.
masaccio
A couple of more quotes from the CNN article:
“According to Jackson County Probate Court records, Criste Reimer had been in ill health for several years. Her weight had fallen to 75 pounds and she was partly blind.”
“In the probable cause statement filed with the charges, police said Reimer was desperate because he could not pay the bills for his wife’s treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer.”
Pathetic.
Anonymous
That’s right, blame the system. I don’t buy that excuse, not ever. “The reason why I threw my sick wife over the balcony was that I couldn’t pay her bills.” Oh, how sad. The poor man!
Why is anyone willing to believe this is an example of anything besides spousal abuse? Throwing someone out the window to their death?
Believe whatever you damn well want. Believe any sob story, no matter how senseless and unbelievable and contrarty to the facts. Now that’s pathetic.
Anonymous
Do you think that’s the first time someone has killed a desperately ill spouse? You think that only happens in the USA? What’s the excuse when that happens in Canada or the UK or anywhere else in the world?
The spouse was in despair over his wife’s terrible illness. NOT the medical bills, I don’t care what the press is saying.
When medical bills are at issue, what happens is a divorce and the spouse goes on Medicaid. Not a great option, but still better than throwing your wife off the balcony.
In Oregon, they allow physician-assisted suicide. Of interest, the despair that goes along with catastrophic illness is the most common reason for the suicide, not pain.
Anonymous
There’s more to the story.
http://crimeblog.us/?p=528
Criste Reimer has been seriously ill for a long time. She should have been on Medicare. She has left an Internet trail for about a decade, writing about her illness.
She was, indeed, seriously ill. I’m sure bills were a problem, even with Medicare. Medicaid should have been added. Whether or not it was, and why, is not addressed in any of the news articles.
But the medical bills part makes for good press. Far more likely, the spouse was in despair over the whole thing, not the medical bills.
Same as when a fully insured spouse does the same thing. Unfortunately, tragic stories like this happen.
Anonymous
The articles make mention of Social Security and SSI. She has had the illness for years. I find it hard to believe in all this time, she did not get on Medicare, at least, and probably Medicaid as well. I see people with this sort of illness go on all the time in my primary care practice.
Anonymous
“She was, indeed, seriously ill. I’m sure bills were a problem, even with Medicare. Medicaid should have been added. Whether or not it was, and why, is not addressed in any of the news articles.
But the medical bills part makes for good press. Far more likely, the spouse was in despair over the whole thing, not the medical bills.’
Wouldn’t matter to KevinMD, he’s against all socialized medicine. She shouldn’t have had access to Medicare because government sponsored healthcare is bad.
Anonymous
When has kevin railed against medicare? I know he is against massive cuts that medicare proposes, but I don’t ever remember reading that Kevin is against medicare.
dentalandhealthplan.com
Wow thats incredible but expected at some point. I mean look at the financial hardship that everlasting debt puts many people through. sad really very sad that people cant get affordable health insurance or benefits all the time
micah
http://www.dentalandhealthplan.com
Anonymous
Let’s put things in perspective. It is horrible that this woman was killed by her husband. This, however, would have been a minor tragedy compared to a physician missing a Ferrari payment if he/she had cut this woman a break on her bills.
Anonymous
“When has kevin railed against medicare”
Kevin is generally against government healthcare. Medicare is just that.
Anonymous
–”Let’s put things in perspective. It is horrible that this woman was killed by her husband. This, however, would have been a minor tragedy compared to a physician missing a Ferrari payment if he/she had cut this woman a break on her bills.”
Well said by the a$$hat.
Let’s put things in perspective. The husband committed murder. He didn’t kill himself over the bills. He hurled his sick wife out the building to die of massive blunt trauma. He didn’t shoot doctors driving expensive cars. Who knows, perhaps the victim’s doctor didn’t even have a Ferrari? Imagine that. How rude. How inconvenient.
Oh that’s right, the whole thing was caused by the fact that the lady’s doctors didn’t make their care, well, free. If they had only done that. Why if she could only have had doctors who didn’t need to collect fees from their patients, everything would be all right. Yes. that really would have made all the difference.
Anonymous
Why is it physicians don’t mind regaling us with allegedly horrible stories of them being wronged by juries, but when something happens that reflects poorly on them, they get all indignant?
Anonymous
“If you’re going to make silly, irrelevant, tasteless, inaccurate points, they might be better kept to yourself.”
Matthew, if it weren’t for those type of comments, what would you post?
Anonymous
“Who knows, perhaps the victim’s doctor didn’t even have a Ferrari? Imagine that. How rude. How inconvenient.”
How silly. Of course the physician had a Ferrari. How dare you insult the caring, loving physician(s) by insinuating that even a single one of the most caring, smartest, special and benevolent of all of the seraphim not have a Ferrari!?! Such insinuations are rude and unacceptable. Don’t waste the time of the physicians with someone who can’t or won’t pay the premium due. The lives of these ingrates is nothing compared to even one iota of time of the best and brightest.
Anonymous
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/235445.html
There is more to the story. The husband’s employer offers family health coverage routinely to employees. It appears he’s been there since 1996. The woman’s left an Internet trail describing her significant illness for almost ten years. She had SSI. I find it hard to believe she didn’t have Medicare.
Now we have: “Sisters of dead woman wanted to keep her away from husband” “I was scared to death…..I did not want him around her.”
“Criste Reimer had been ‘doing great’ at their mother’s house, the sisters said, adding that they had become more concerned about her safety since last fall, when Stanley Reimer’s mood and attitude toward them seemed to change…….”
“He just got scary…..It was like we just didn’t know him anymore.”
(see link above)
So a death that would otherwise be of local interest gets national attention because the guy who threw her off the balcony SAYS he did it because of medical bills. The KC Star and the AP just run with it, not a scrap of scrutiny.
Mike
“How silly. Of course the physician had a Ferrari. How dare you insult the caring, loving physician(s)”
Some doctors (like myself) can’t afford to even own a car.
The over-the-top sarcasm of the jealous and angry nuts on this site needs to stop. It accomplishes nothing.
Anonymous
It is a travesty… A national tragedy of epic and perhaps even Biblical proportions when a physician is parted, even for a moment, from his/her Ferrari. What other purported suffering in the annals of human existence could even hope to compare with this, the greatest suffering ever seen or imagined by all of humanity? Physicians, the Seraphim – the best and the brightest, the most caring, the most altruistic, the divinely ordained, the “special” ones that have transcended the human condition with their “special” position in life… what suffering of mere mortals could even compare to the most minor inconvenience of deities such as these? Base and vulgar humanity should worship with superstitious veneration and be filled with awe that physicians would even deem to consider such vulgarity to exist in the presence of exalted physician glory. Thusly, all money and items of physical value belong to the physicians. Special legal protections regarding professional practice belong only to the physicians. Deaths and injuries are solely the responsibility of the vulgar humanity and none of the blame rests with the physicians. Oaths and societal contracts in establishing physician first legal and business protections are meaningless as even the loss of a single dollar to a physician in fulfilling their oath is a crime of untold proportion and magnitude.
Anonymous
11:27
You write like a bright but angry thirteen-year old. It would be better if you applied some discipline to yourself. Your ideas–not your silly provocative rants–might then rise above the level of typical internet incivility, which is nothing but background noise.
Think about what it takes to be listened to, not just to be heard.
Anonymous
Anon 11:27 PM,
I ditto the above comment. And if it were the bills from the plumber, the electric company or the car payments that drove him over the edge, would it be their fault? I’m sure you think not. Where does your animosity and venom to physicians come from?
Anonymous
“Some doctors (like myself) can’t afford to even own a car.”
How much do you make Mike?
“The over-the-top sarcasm of the jealous and angry nuts on this site needs to stop. It accomplishes nothing.”
Isn’t that what all these physicians are doing about lawyers? Pot, meet kettle.
Anonymous
Anon: Mike lives/works in NYC. Ever try owning a car in NYC? I own a 9 year old chevy. Your classism and prejudgements are wrong and tiresome. Get a new line. Now about this thread, the guy murdered his wife (who appeared to have insurance) which is a local story. It becomes a national story that everyone jumps on and blames on the big bad medical/insruance complex without even knowing the whole story. Now what does that say? Kind of reminds me of micheal moore’s
sicko. He could have had a very good documentary with what is wrong with the system without over-reaching with falsehoods like the metastatic renal cell pt not getting a transplant due to the insurance company. Doesn’t exactly help the argument to change the system when examples used are based on lies and falsehoods.
Anonymous
I engaged in no classism, I simply asked how much he made. He’s complaining about his income, so what is it?
I have family that lives in NYC, and they chose not to have a car for many years, which in NYC is a perfectly viable choice due to the prevalence of public transportation.
As for the rest of your post, I don’t know why physicians are so indignant since this is the same kind of thing that they do with regard to tort reform. Is what’s good for the goose not good for the gander?
Anonymous
12:10
Do they live in Manhattan?
2 BR apartments, nothing special, $1.34M, or more. Usually more.
Monthly parking, $400. Not necessarily nearby.
Oh, then you have to buy and insure the car.
I could easily see why a doctor working in NYC might not be able to afford either to own a car or live in Manhattan. And it has nothing to do with convenient public transport there. You can easily have a 1 hour train/subway commute.
Anonymous
Yes, they live in Manhattan, adjacent to Central Park on the upper West Side.
Again, though, that’s why I asked how much Mike made. I guess I should also have asked where he lived. His blanket statement that he can’t afford a car is useless without more info.
Mike
Anon 3:59… what the difference? Do you think I can afford it, but I’m just choosing NOT to buy my Ferrari?
Its not “useless”. Its apt. APT!!! (Lisa Simpson joke)
Seriously, the idea that doctors all have ferraris is retarded. Or that they believe they are entitled to one. Only a tiny number could believe this. And the weirdo that posts those long diatribes that make him/her sound like Son of Sam needs to accept it and move on.
Anonymous
What crap. Men and women have been murdering burdensome spouses since the beginning of time and will do so to the end of time. This is a moral problem and a criminal case, not an insurance problem. This is silly. We could brain storm and come up with a thousand other scenarios, other than healthcare bills, of how his spouse could be putting him in a bad spot and come up with a thousand different actions that he could have taken other then murder. He choose murder. Not the system or the doctors or the bill collectors. Him.