“The report also found in 2023 alone the HSE paid more than €2.1 million for children’s spinal surgeries at Dublin’s private Blackrock Clinic despite senior health staff insisting there was capacity in public hospitals.”
@CarrollJennifer that audit would really have come in handy by now. Remind me again, who is the head of the spinal task force? Does he happen to work in Blackrock Clinic? 🙄
Your ability to access healthcare should always be prioritised based on your needs, not your financial status.
Two Ombudsman reports.
Multiple warnings.
A promised 4-month target for surgery that was never achieved. @SimonHarrisTD
Families spoke up.
Children waited.
Recommendations were made.
Yet children continued to suffer the consequences. @CarrollJennifer
This was never just a healthcare issue.
It was, and remains, a children’s rights issue.
#BackUs #ScoliosisAwarenessMonth
@griptmedia@Ben_Scallan Easy on, she just arrived and from kerry....give her space and time to reajust...and anway, what is this email thing you speak of
TWO KIDS JUST OUT OF
COLLEGE TOOK DOWN A $9 BILLION FRAUD. SILICON VALLEY
Elizabeth Holmes told the world her company Theranos had invented a machine that could detect hundreds of diseases from a single drop of blood. Investors poured in money. The media made her a billionaire icon. The next Steve Jobs, they said. She wore a black turtleneck and everything.
Tyler Shultz (@TylerShultz_) and Erika Cheung (@ErikaMCheung) were entry-level lab technicians. They were low on the company totem pole, fresh out of college, and they could both see the machine did not work.
Only 12 out of 100 patient samples returned correct results. Real patients were getting real diagnoses from a device that was essentially guessing.
They tried raising it internally. Holmes ignored it. So they went to the Wall Street Journal. Shultz used an alias to contact regulators.
Theranos came after him with lawyers. He ended up with half a million dollars in legal fees just for telling the truth.
Theranos spent around $150,000 on private investigators to follow both of them.
The company that claimed to be saving lives was spending six figures surveilling the two young employees trying to protect patients.
Tyler's own grandfather, former Secretary of State George Shultz, sat on the Theranos board and did not believe his grandson until near the end of his life.
The family cost alone is something most people never talk about.
Holmes went from a Forbes peak valuation of $4.5 billion to bankrupt. She was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison. Her COO Sunny Balwani received around 13 years. A separate ruling ordered them both to pay $452 million in restitution.
Tyler Shultz was 22 years old when he first raised the alarm. Erika Cheung was barely older. While executives cashed cheques and journalists wrote glowing profiles, two junior employees were the ones who actually did something about it.
That is how it usually works.
Sources: @TylerShultz_@ErikaMCheung@WSJ@guardian@CBSNews@NPR
Sitting in McDonald’s carpark waiting for an appointment, a gentleman who I later found out was named Tony, approached my car window.
He asked if I knew about the state of my tyres.
I explained that I knew I needed new ones but at the moment simply couldn’t afford it.
He asked me if I would follow him to Bridgestone Pimpama across the road to see what they could do for me.
This complete stranger, Tony explained he couldn’t live with himself if he walked away from the situation knowing they were about to blow at anytime.
Tony didn’t expect anything in return, just asking that one day when I’m in the position where I’m able to help someone that I pay it forward.
535 dollars, a lot of tears on my behalf, a few hugs, three brand new tyres, a wheel alignment and the offer to fuel up my car.
Then he left.
No last name, no contact number.
Just Tony the gentle giant with his two beautiful sons teaching them a life lesson.
Tony if this ever reaches you, thank you!
Thank you for your utterly selfless act, your kind words, for restoring my faith in humanity.
From the bottom of my heart thank you!
Also a big thankyou to Bridgestone tyres Pimpama for fitting me in on a fully booked out day and for the great service, you guys are champs!
Credit - Tegan Langley
@BBCNewsNI There's very little if anything more inspiring than these men. Met them in Limerick and ran just over 40km...which was a lot more than my previous longest run. Unbeleive able what they've done