** PUBLIC POST **

Since I'm home this morning I'm scanning some headlines, and when you follow a link from a link, etc., sometimes you run into some interesting stuff.

I stumbled across this sad story, and I honestly believe this would not have happened in the US.
Yes, we know that American medical care is expensive, in part because they run a lot of "unnecessary" tests.
I thought this might make a good launching point for a discussion of whether those tests, and all that expensive equipment that hospitals have, really are worth it or not.

A beautiful baby, born to a former Vogue model after a normal pregnancy, died after only five days, in August 2006.
(Emphasis below is mine.)

Excerpts from the story:
"Ava had been born with a genetic condition called methylmalonic acidaemia (MMA). This meant her body didn't produce an enzyme to break down protein.

"In the womb, Natasha, 33, had been breaking the protein down for her.

"But on her own, Ava's tiny body was unable to cope with any protein and even her own mother's milk was highly poisonous, leading to a build up of toxic substances, methylmalonic acid and ammonia. Untreated, it can lead to a coma, brain damage and death.

"In America, newborns are routinely tested for this condition. There are no such tests in the UK and Natasha and her husband Grant, 37, were unaware of Ava's condition."

Also:
"Doctors desperately needed a drug to clean her blood and bring down the ammonia levels and, with the readings getting higher each time, every minute counted.

"But a frantic attempt to find the medication needed in the local hospitals failed and Ava didn't receive the drugs until several hours later, when specialists from London's Evelina Children's Hospital arrived to transfer her to their unit.

"'I am sure it would have saved her life if she'd had the drug earlier,' said Natasha."

And:
"Following Ava's death on August 18, 2006, Natasha and Grant set up the Ava Clarke Foundation in her memory to raise money for children affected by life-limiting inherited genetic disorders.

"One in 800 babies is born with one of these conditions, which also cause 40 per cent of neonatal deaths.

"The Clarkes are trying to raise money towards the cost of a new piece of equipment known as a tandem mass spectrometer (TMS) for the Children's Metabolic Unit at the Evelina Hospital.

"These machines can identify rare metabolic conditions, but there are only a few in the UK."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1140366/The-perfect-baby-died-...