DonF:'GfS, can you link to articles or news stories that verify what you said in your post above? I'd also like to hear some Californians comment on what you have written.'

I lived, and had a recording studio in 'SoCal'. It was well documented in the L.A. Times, plus I WAS THERE, at the hospital, at the time when this happened. I don't have a link, at the moment, but if I researched it, I know I could easily provide one or a few dozen. Better yet, have one of your friends stop by Olive View Hospital, in Sylmar,(take the Roxford off ramp) pop into the emergency room, and have them tell you what they see. Ask them to talk to the people waiting for help. At that, there should be no question, at all to the validity of what I said. You can try to call KFI radio station, in L.A. Ask them for links, or where to get the story. They've been reporting on it for some time now.

CarolC:"If a person goes to the emergency room in diabetic shock, the emergency room personnel will only stabilize that person's vital signs and send them home. They will not provide the patient with a program and medications for correcting the diabetes.
Anyone who thinks people can get their medical needs met in emergency rooms simply has not ever had to deal with not"

In California, the outpatient clinics at the state run hospitals are linked to the emergency rooms. All you have to do, is show up, and after being seeing in the ER, you get re-routed, to the appropriate, services at the hospital. There are several different financial programs that anyone can qualify for, anything from pay what you can afford, all the way to free...free doctors services including free prescriptions, and follow up visits. To get into that, all one needs to do is show up, and that is primarily done at the ER's.