ONTD Political

Kucinich.... milquetoast....

I bet you that's in his contract somewhere.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/29/AR2011012902128.html

teal deer: He bought a sandwich that had an unpitted olive in it. He bit down hard on the pit (as you do) and it broke his tooth. Fast forward to lawsuit.

Not his brightest moment, tbh, and I'm usually a fan of his.

Gotta agree!

Responding to you since you're the most recent person to respond, but really this is for anyone who cares/is interested, if anyone comes back to this...

First, I've chosen to go without insurance because I couldn't afford it--it was literally a choice between being insured and being able to pay rent. I'm guessing Dennis Kucinich wasn't in that same situation, and his decision to not carry dental insurance was a genuine choice rather than a necessity. And given the fact that he apparently already had extensive dental work to maintain, I think it was probably not such a good choice at that because he carries extra risk of extra expense. But you know, it's still his choice, and that's fine...but it was a choice, not a financial requirement.

Second, the entire thing was a series of accidents. The pit was an accident, the fact that he bit on it in such a bad way was an accident, the fact that he didn't notice it was a bad crack until it got infected was an accident, the reaction to the antibiotics was an accident, etc. Terrible, awful, yes...but accidents nonetheless. I get the idea of liability, but honestly there were so many things in this chain of tragedies the fact that he picked the food service company smacks of a lawyer saying "well, they're probably the only ones we can get to pay."

Third, as I said I get the idea of liability but when you've made a legit choice to take a risk (as he did when he chose not to carry dental insurance), if you get called to pay that bet it's a little unfair to look to lawsuits to spread that burden. If he'd been forced into the situation--couldn't afford insurance, couldn't afford the resulting medical bills--I'd absolutely be on board with a lawsuit, especially if strong liability could be established. But I don't think that was the case.

He sued for $150k, which sounds like just the medical bills, though the suit specified also "pain and suffering" and "loss of enjoyment." But honestly, $150k doesn't sound like much more than medical bills given what he went through, so it's not like he was looking to make some extra money. Again, though, he's a fairly wealthy guy. I don't know how big of a dent $150k is in his finances, but I'm guessing it's nothing like it is for you or I. Compound that by the facts that it was a series of accidents and he had chosen not to have insurance and...well.

I guess my main point is this isn't like what happens to you or I. You or I wouldn't have insurance because we couldn't afford it. You or I would probably NEED to sue, because jfc I can't imagine where I'd get $150k for medical bills. But Kucinich? Not such a tight financial situation that he couldn't buy insurance, and not in such a tight financial situation that he couldn't pay his own bills when the risk he chose to take bit him on the ass.

Now, a lot of this is based on my interpretation of things, and it's possible I've misinterpreted or don't know some of the facts in the case. But given what I know and understand, I don't think this was one of his finest moments.

Don't get me wrong: I love Dennis Kucinich. I fell in love with him during the Democratic presidential debates and I caucused for him because I genuinely believed he'd be a great president. I still do. But this just kind of rubbed me the wrong way, I guess.

Apparently there was a pit in his sandwich wrap, and biting into it split his tooth into the root, but he didn't notice right away. It got infected, he had a bad reaction to the antibiotics, which put him in the ER. Then he needed a replacement tooth and the first one didn't take, so he had to get a second surgery for that. The tooth itself was the one his bridgework was connected to, so in all the olive pit screwed up the dentistry in his mouth for six teeth, I think? He sued the food service he'd gotten the wrap from for the price of the medical and dental bills, and settled out of court, iirc--but he didn't have dental insurance. I wince thinking of what that all cost, out of pocket, and how the fuck I'd have taken care of it all if it had been me. I guess he had massive trouble chewing till it was all cleared up, too.

Icon for the situation! *shudder*

Edit: whoops, wrong 'no' icon!

Edited at 2013-01-17 11:15 pm (UTC)

Oh don't worry, I didn't take it personally at all! You articulately and quite clearly explained what you were thinking, there, and it made a ton of sense to me. I figured you just picked a comment to respond to, and it happened to be mine :)

Yay, the Prisoner! Be seeing you!

yes