Ben Cardin: “yesterday, the Washington Post brought to the Nation's attention the story of a young boy, Deamonte Driver, who died…”

“yesterday, the Washington Post brought to the Nation's attention the story of a young boy, Deamonte Driver, who died Sunday, February 25, at the age of 12. Our thoughts are with the Driver family. Deamonte's death, the result of a brain infection brought on by a tooth abscess, is a national tragedy. It is a tragedy because it was preventable. It is a tragedy because it happened right here in the United States, in a State which is one of the most affluent in the Nation. It happened in a State that is home to the first and one of the best dental schools in the Nation, the University of Maryland. It happened in Prince George's County, whose border is less than 6 miles from where we are standing in the United States Capitol. By now, most of my colleagues are familiar with Deamonte's story. Through a sad confluence of circumstances and events, the disjointed parts of our health care system failed this child. The Driver family, like many other families across the country, lacked dental insurance. At one point his family had Medicaid coverage, but they lost it because they had moved to a shelter and the paperwork fell through the cracks. Even when a dedicated community social worker tried to help, it took more than 20 phone calls to find a dentist who would treat him. Deamonte began to complain about headaches just 8 weeks ago, on January 11. An evaluation at Children's Hospital led beyond basic dental care to emergency brain surgery.”