NZ : Woman on oxygen dies after power cut

[UglyMowgli]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house Tuesday.
Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened. Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of 5 and 20, had been off work since February with an illness.
A Mercury Energy representative arrived on Tuesday at her home in the northern city of Auckland to disconnect the electricity, said Brenden Sheehan, Muliaga's nephew-in-law.
Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/...Ss8vi19n0fYhAF

The man should be hanged without prosecution or in the guattanamo bay for life or in a death row!!!!!

[jumpy]

yay! lets hear it for the pennies that were saved!
Heartless bastard, I bet he was a traffic warden in a former life too.

[Nightmare]

Might not be a popular question to ask (but it should), but was there any statement as to why she didn't pay her bill? I don't know about anybody else, but if I were dependant on an electric oxygen pump to breath I'd be paying (or if I couldn't, my family would be) that electric bill the day it arrived in the mail. Hell, I'd have a backup generator installed in my house just in case of power loss!

[Frau_Phillips]

A terrible accident, surely, but if the power company had no record of her being on oxygen, it really isn't their fault. It's simply procedure, I've had my power cut several times due to a missed bill.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Nightmare

Might not be a popular question to ask (but it should), but was there any statement as to why she didn't pay her bill? I don't know about anybody else, but if I were dependant on an electric oxygen pump to breath I'd be paying (or if I couldn't, my family would be) that electric bill the day it arrived in the mail. Hell, I'd have a backup generator installed in my house just in case of power loss!

It is quite common for illnesses to force you to choose between paying your electric bill or paying for the medical treatment you so desperately need.

Also, under long term illness, she probably doesn't have much income, and if she has no savings either, she probably can't pay her electric bill.

-S

[Letum]

Would she have seen a similar fate if there was power failure due to a storm or repair work on the grid? Would she have died if a faulty hair drier blew her mains fuse?

No doubt the electric company where idiots, but we have at least one non-bill related power failure a year here so I would NEVER trust my life to a mains plug.

[Jimbuna]

That power company employee has got to live with that on his conscience for the rest of his life
I wish I could say the same of the company

[micky1up]

Originally Posted by Nightmare

Might not be a popular question to ask (but it should), but was there any statement as to why she didn't pay her bill? I don't know about anybody else, but if I were dependant on an electric oxygen pump to breath I'd be paying (or if I couldn't, my family would be) that electric bill the day it arrived in the mail. Hell, I'd have a backup generator installed in my house just in case of power loss!

that is of no consequence weather she paid the bill or not a medical dependant should never have the electricity cut off in the uk if you have children they cannot do this unless you have an alternate way of heating the house this man should be jailed for murder and his boss for culpable homoside

[Skybird]

Main news (ZDF) minutes ago said that she had payed several smaller sums that she could afford to illustrate her good will to the company. They showed the bank tickets that proved that. Family said they had told the company that their mother was depending on that machine - company said they don't know of that.

I would be more cautious to doom the worker who cut the line in the house. He was doing his job for which he had been sent, and without doubt he is being told heartwarming stories a several times a day.

I see the major responsebility probably with the company.

No info on the background of the family, though, which I also would like to know before making a final verdict.

[Nightmare]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

It is quite common for illnesses to force you to choose between paying your electric bill or paying for the medical treatment you so desperately need.

Also, under long term illness, she probably doesn't have much income, and if she has no savings either, she probably can't pay her electric bill.

-S

That is very true, however according to a different article on this same story, the electric company had sent several disconnect notices to the residence over a 6-7 week period. Common sense says that if you don't pay your electric bill, they are going to shut off your power. It's not like they came over the minute the bill was late to shut everything down. They gave her ample opportunity to do something.

All I'm saying is, if it's a matter of life or death to keep the power on, then she (or someone from the family) should have called either when they realized they couldn't pay the bill or when they received their first disconnect notice and worked something out with the power company. Every company that I have monthly bills with can and do offer monthly payment plans and deferred payments. Failing that, ask for help from family and friends.

To those that might label me as heartless, I do understand what it’s like to not be able to afford to live and be in debt for 100’s of thousands of dollars in medical bills. My best friend was hit by a speeding car that was running a red light while he was crossing a cross walk. Because the car took off after hitting him (hit-and-run) and that the police were never able to track down the car or the driver, he was left to pay out of pocket for all his medical bills. He ended up having to sell off everything he owned and move in with his father to afford to live and pay his medical bills since his injuries have rendered him unable to work.

[HunterICX]

The employee is not to be blamed as he did what the higher staff told him to do.

if there is someone that needs to pay for this horrible accident is the company and directed to the persons who decided that the power had to be cutt off.

a horrible loss.

[tycho102]

It's a wicked situation no matter the perspective. In cases like these, I usually recommend to just start blasting incumbents and let God sort them all out. Well, either that or just vote them out of office.

I like China's style, though. Imagine the hurricane Katrina response if Blanco and Nagin were in China and stood a good chance of getting hooked up to one of those mobile execution chambers. The national guard would have been in there 24 hours prior and the entire city (including hospital patients) would have already been evacuated. Dude, there would have been results like someone's life depended on it.

However, the chick should have forseen the small issue (her life depending on electrical power) and taken steps to prevent such an occurance.

[The Avon Lady]

If you read the original article, it says that the technician was told by the family when he came to disconnect the electricity about their mother's dependence. How clear this message was to the technician is what's important. Orders from HQ are no excuse if the consequences were that obvious.

Now it's a question of what exactly were the circumstances here.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by The Avon Lady

If you read the original article, it says that the technician was told by the family when he came to disconnect the electricity about their mother's dependence. How clear this message was to the technician is what's important. Orders from HQ are no excuse if the consequences were that obvious.

Now it's a question of what exactly were the circumstances here.

The family was there?

They didn't get her any medical assistance immediatly?

They didn't call paramedics or police?

New Zealand isn't that behind the times is it?

The familys story has a lot of holes in it.