Family: Hospital's COVID Restrictions Let Pregnant Woman Die from Treatable Condition
An expectant mother in New York City apparently fell victim to the health care industry’s prioritizing the coronavirus above all else when she died after giving birth to her son last month.
WABC-TV reported that Amber Isaac, 26, was excited to give birth to a baby boy, but experienced treatable pregnancy complications that were unable to be resolved, as she was denied an in-person doctor appointment and was instead offered telehealth services.
Issac had developed HELLP syndrome, which can be a life-threatening but treatable pregnancy complication usually considered to be a form of preeclampsia, according to the Preeclampsia Foundation.
The condition was diagnosed in February, but Isaac was kept at home because of the coronavirus.
By mid-April, the condition had worsened and she was admitted to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
The expectant mother complained about being denied a doctor visit online, and vowed to write about her experience.
“Can’t wait to write a tell all about my experience during my last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors at Montefiore,” Isaac tweeted on April 17.
Can’t wait to write a tell all about my experience during my last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors at Montefiore
— ✨ (@Radieux_Rose) April 17, 2020
But a first-person account from Isaac will never be written or read.
Her child was delivered during an emergency cesarean section procedure a month premature, and the mother never left the hospital.
She died alone at Montefiore on April 21 after giving birth, and her child’s father, Bruce McIntyre, says her death could have been avoided, according to The Guardian.
McIntyre called Issac’s death “100 percent preventable,” according to the outlet, and added that he blamed her tragic death on her inability to see a doctor.
Experts have warned of the unintended consequences of allocating the full resources of the country’s medical system to fighting the coronavirus.
Increases in cancer, tuberculosis and other treatable disease are expected to increase in the future, as routine doctor visits have essentially been halted.
But for Isaac, such an important doctor visit could have proved lifesaving, and it would have been anything but routine.
Now, her son will never know his mother and McIntyre will be denied some of the joys of fatherhood as he raises his son alone without the love that only a mother can offer a child.
WABC reported that McIntyre and the baby are both home and doing well.
Montefiore released a statement about Isaac’s death and touted its success with maternal mortality rates.
“Ninety-four percent of our deliveries are minority mothers, and Montefiore’s maternal mortality rate of 0.01 percent is lower than both New York City and national averages. Any maternal death is a tragedy. Our hearts go out to Ms. Isaac’s family, especially to her mother, our longtime colleague,” the hospital said in a statement to WABC.
Isaac’s death didn’t have to happen, and by all accounts it could have been prevented.
But panic-driven public policy failed her.
Since cases of the coronavirus began to spread across the country in March, the issue has been politicized to the point where those who question draconian public policies are branded as heartless people consumed by wealth.
The left has essentially framed the response to the coronavirus as binary. It has become an argument of people who value saving lives vs. those who value their stock portfolios.
The fallacy of that argument is on full display, as Amber Isaac is now only a memory for those who loved her after she fell into the gray area being ignored by overzealous health experts, reporters and politicians.
The “if it saves one life” mentality to flattening the curve appears to have taken a life and forever altered the trajectory of an entire family.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
