Add more Tax to cigerettes?

[GSeybold]

Shelley, not to go off the subject but I've been to the UK, worked in the healthcare system there. They seem to have a better approach, IMO. You live it, you would no better than I.

P.S. About 15 years ago or so, I had a patient who was this very special little child. Not sure how to describe this child anther than being strangely angelic so to speak. A little less than two years old, was able to stand up in the hospital crib as he held on to the railing. The poor little sweetheart was in a severe S. A attack. He couldn't breath and needed to be intubated. We worked furiously to help this baby, we couldn't figure out why was it that every time we extubed this child and his mother visited he would go bad again. This little guy was in the PICU for weeks and both his parents continually complained about not having any money and were on welfare but obviously had a severe smoking problem. As the weeks past, the staff noticed that the mother of this baby reeked off cigarette smoke more and more and that every time she held the baby he would have severe difficulty breathing. The baby was finally discharged and the nurse walked the family out to their car in the usual hospital fashion. The woman strapped her baby in the the car seat, rolled up the windows of her very nice car and lit a cigarette. The baby returned a few hours later reeking of smoke and in cardiac arrest. We resuscitated him again and of course this little guy was admitted. He was stabilized and return to the floor a few days later. The mother walks in, reeking again of cigarette smoke after being told numerous times that this was the cause of her child's breathing problems but told us that her smoking was none of our business. In the infinite wisdom of this hospital social service staff, they did not take action. The child was released in the care of his mother again and died about 2.5 days later in my ER after suffering a cardiac arrest from cigarette smoke. So taxpayers paid for these cigeretess more than likely... are taxpayors responsible for this child's death or are the parents? I'll never forget this patient as long as I live.

What I will say is that every day for many years I witnessed this abuse of taxpayers money when other medically needy individuals sat on the sidelines and died. Very sad in deed. Denying medical care to ANYONE is inhumane, not insisting on personal responsiblity is another story.