Government Computer Glitch Kills 9 Year Old Boy

Tell me again how government health care is a good thing? The boy's mother was only able to get in touch with his caseworker once (who will probably never get fired, no matter how many people die because of their indifference):

Zumante had struggled with asthma since he was 3 months old. But when he was 6, the condition became serious enough for his mother to apply for benefits under Social Security, which also entitles him to Medicaid.

Andrew Lieber was Zu mante's physician since birth. He said the boy's lungs were severely inflamed, and his twice-daily medication, Advair, helped control that.

Last March, Lucero went to fill her son's prescriptions at a Walgreens near her home in Montbello. A worker there said Zumante didn't have prescription-drug coverage anymore.

Lucero says she called Denver Human Services every three days for four months trying to get him drug coverage. Each time she called, an automatic computer report was issued and sent to her house usually showing that all of her children — including Zumante — qualified for Medicaid.

But even when she brought in the reports to Walgreens, she was told the computer system showed he wasn't eligible for pharmaceutical benefits.

Throughout months of frustrating phone calls to Human Services' call-center operators, which often left Lucero in tears, Zumante's health weakened. She managed to reach her caseworker only once. The caseworker told her in March that the problem had been resolved.

Just why the system showed Zumante wasn't eligible for the prescription benefit — when in fact he was — still is not clear.

The little boy, who loved karate, drawing cartoon figures and riding bikes with his brothers and sisters, was often caught in spasms of panic because he couldn't catch his breath.

He went to the emergency room in May and June when the inhalers and nebulizers Lucero carried were not enough.

During the June trip to the ER, Lucero told doctors she wasn't able to get him his Advair.

They gave her some samples. When she told Zumante he was going to get to start taking his medicine again, the boy was so relieved he cried.

But it was too late. The medicine works progressively to keep inflammation down, Lieber said.

On July 16, Lucero was home and heard Zumante call her name from upstairs. He was on the nebulizer and told her he couldn't breathe. She called an ambulance. While she was waiting, Zumante lost consciousness.

She cradled him in the front yard while she waited to hear sirens. By the time paramedics got him to Children's Hospital, he had been unconscious for more than 10 minutes.

For four days, he was kept alive on a ventilator, but when Lucero decided to disconnect it, he died within a few minutes