US Citizen in Barranquilla Faces Health Care Nightmare Due to Lack of EPS Affiliation

2023-05-09 02:37:15

A Via Crucis has been living for a month and 20 days the family of Bryan Eric Osborne, a US citizen who is married to Irina Estarita from Barranquilla.

The woman, her husband and their 10-year-old daughter landed in Barranquilla On March 19 at 2:30 p.m., two hours later Osborne began to feel bad. At about 6:30 p.m., the man had a heart attack.

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“My husband didn’t finish lunch, he told me he felt bad and went to lie down for a while to see if it would go away. A few minutes later I asked him how he felt and he told me that his head wanted to explode. He took a tylenol and an ibuprofen, after a while neither daughter began to scream because she found him lying there and he was in very bad shape, ”recalls Irina in dialogue with EL TIEMPO.

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At the moment of anguish due to the situation of the relative, despair was added because an ambulance arrived at the site. Irina says that they “had to sit him on a plastic chair and lower him three floors to put him in my sister’s car and take him to the Clínica del Caribe, which was the closest we had,” says the woman who has lived in the city for 13 years. South Carolina, United States.

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There, Bryan Eric Osborne, 54, received medical attention and was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit where he was given oxygen. He was in the ICU for five days and five more in a regular room.

They thought the worst was over

We couldn’t keep paying that money and we decided to take him out of the clinic and take him home.

As the days went by, instead of feeling relieved, the situation began to worsen. The man required more attention and the doctors told him that he had to be done immediately. an open heart surgery that costs around 70 million pesos.

But there began the nightmare for the family, since the man does not appear affiliated with any EPS en Colombia and the high costs for medical care become impossible to pay.

“I did the whole affiliation process with the EPS Sura, and I also did it with my husband, because I am a Colombian citizen I had no problem, but with the issue of him they asked us for several papers and almost a month later they told us no, that those were not “says Estarita, 50 years old.

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Medical expenses during Osborne’s 10 days at the clinic cost the family 30 million pesos. “We could not continue paying that money and we decided to take him out of the clinic and take him home with all the coronary protocol, thinking that it would only be a matter of days,” explains the wife.

However, it has not been like that. The affiliation to the EPS has not been made effective. “We obtained a permeance permit, but the EPS says that it only applies to Venezuelans, that what he needs is a foreigner’s identity card, and really my husband is not in a position to process any document due to his state of health,” it states Irina Estarita.

One month at home and paying private doctors

This is a time bomb, he has health breaks at any time

Bryan Eric Osborne was transferred to his wife’s family home where he is in complete rest, on a strict diet, awaiting surgery. Martha Estarita, his sister-in-law is the one who has been in charge of care and attention.

“We asked for voluntary departure due to economic issues, the clinic gave us a coronary protocol to keep him at home. We followed it to the letter with the medications prescribed by the cardiologist and on a low-salt, sugar-free diet.

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While he is still at home, the expenses also increase with each individual medical check-up and tests that are prescribed for him because he is a high-risk patient.

“When we bring private doctors, they are about 80,000 pesos per consultation on average, plus laboratory tests and other studies that they send, we spend about 200,000 pesos weekly. We request an address so that he does not have to go anywhere”, says Martha Estarita.

Concern is growing, because despite the fact that Osborne is following medical instructions to the letter and taking his medications on time, as well as the strict diet, his state of health is complicated and the surgery does not wait.

“This is a time bomb, he has health problems at any time and we don’t know what to do,” he says.

Legal process

Irina Estarita had to return to the United States due to work commitments, and while there she consulted with the Consulate of colombiawhere they explained to her that for her husband to be a member of the EPS it was enough for her to register her marriage in the country.

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“I already sent a power of attorney to the lawyer and the marriage registry duly translated into Spanish, it is notarized and apostilled. It should be arriving in the course of these days and we hope that this will be enough for him to be affiliated ”, he affirms.

Patient with a history of blood pressure and came for checkups

Osborne, who is a mechanic by profession, arrived in Barranquilla with the intention of getting some medical checkups, because some years ago he was diagnosed as a patient with problems of blood pressure.

His family assures that although in the United States he did not stop taking his medications, he wanted to undergo in-depth studies in Colombia, because he was not satisfied with the treatment he was receiving, but his plans changed completely as soon as he landed in Barranquilla.

Flor Diaz Ospino

Correspondent in Barranquilla

A Twitter: @fdiazos

Write to me at: [email protected]

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