Monica Hussing and William Robinson Sr. from Clevland, Ohio, who failed to seek medical care for their cancer-stricken son because they said they couldn’t afford medical care have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Their son, Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors. The prosecutors say that had he received treatment, the youngster would have had a 96% chance of making a full recovery.
The parents claim they never took their cancer-stricken son to the doctor because they didn’t have the money.
But somehow, they found the cash to have their family pit bull treated for fleas, prosecutors say.
Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors
Monica Hussing, 37 and William Robinson, 40, have been free on $150,000 bail each in Cleveland, since their son died. On Monday, the parents pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter and face up to eight years in prison.
Monica Hussing’s lawyer blamed Willie’s death on the fact that the parents, who still have five children, were poor and did not have health insurance.
“Unfortunately, these people did not have that ability to get the proper health care and I think the entire system both in Warren, in Trumbull County and in Cuyahoga County it was just a little bit of… the ball was dropped,” John Luskin told WJW.
But prosecutors say as Willie Robinson was dying a horrible, but preventable, death, his parents paid $87 to take their pit bull Petey to a veterinarian and have it treated for fleas.
After ignoring his pleas for medical help, Willie Robinson collapsed at their home March 22, 2008. It was then Monica Hussing and William Robinson finally took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with cancer and died later that day.
The coroner ruled the boy’s death, caused by cancer and pneumonia, a homicide, meaning it was the result of his parents’ actions.
Authorities say none of the couple’s five other children, now 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8, received medical care. All of them have been removed from their parents and are living with an aunt.
The parents also kept their children out of school. Willie Robinson never saw a classroom in his short life, authorities say.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is cancer of lymph tissue found in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver and bone marrow. Symptoms include: fatigue, fever and chills, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.
It is the most common form of childhood cancer and the most treatable, with up to 96% of children surviving at least five years after the cancer goes into remission.
The 9/11 tragedy from World Trade Centre has taken a heavy toll on the health of those who tried to rescue people from the burning buildings, those who took part in the clean-up, and those who lived near the site, research shows.
The rescuers who endangered their lives trying to save people have paid a long-term price: a 19% higher risk of cancer as a result of exposure to toxic fumes, according to a study published in a special The Lancet series to mark the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.
Other research in the series reveals the scale of mental and physical damage suffered by rescuers and witnesses.
Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer of New York City fire department, and colleagues studied the firefighters, together with others from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, and Montefiore Medical Centre, New York.
The rescuers at 9/11 WTC are at 19% higher risk of cancer as a result of exposure to toxic fumes, according to a study published in a special The Lancet series to mark the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.
“In the years following the disaster, the firefighters began to ask about cancer. The World Trade Centre fire was like no other they had encountered,” said Dr. Prezant.
“Firefighters are not environmental scientists, but they have the common sense test,” Dr. Prezant told the Guardian.
“What they said after coming out of those buildings after participating in the rescue and recovery effort was not just that the magnitude was great; they felt they were affected in a different way.
“Most firefighters have learned there are different smells to fires. They repeatedly said to us that this area smelled different. They said this was unlike any other firefight we’ve had before.
“We have a unique group of people. On 9/11 the firefighters ran into these towers, many of them after the south tower had collapsed, with nothing in their minds except saving everyone who was in there. We concentrate on the nearly 3,000 people who died there and the 343 firefighters who died that day, as we should, but we should never forget that 20,000 to 30,000 people were evacuated from that building because of the heroic efforts of these responders.
“In subsequent years they did voice concern, asking: <<What’s going to happen to me?>>. From day one we have said we will find out and we will provide you with the services necessary to help you.”
“One of the strengths of the study is that every firefighter who was there on September11, 2001 has had many health checks since,” Dr. Prezant added.
The researchers’ efforts to avoid an over-screening bias have brought the percentage estimates down. Originally they found an increase of 32%.
The cancers are various, but the most common were those of the skin, prostate, thyroid and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The authors say a link between exposure to the pollutants given off by the World Trade Centre and cancer is biologically plausible because “some contaminants in the WTC dust, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins, are known carcinogens.”
Dr. James Melius of the New York State Labourers’ health fund calls for inclusion of cancer in the government-funded medical programme for firefighters.
“Waiting to do so until definitive cancer studies have been completed (probably many years from now) would be unfair and would pose a hardship for workers who willingly risked their health by responding without hesitation to the WTC crisis,” Dr. Melius said.
So far, rescue workers and civilians exposed to the dust have lower death rates than other comparable groups in New York, according to another study. But researchers say that is not surprising, because most were employed or volunteers – both groups that generally have better health – and the illnesses they might succumb to as a result of 9/11 generally do not cause death within 10 years.
Nonetheless, the more than 50,000 rescue and recovery workers who went to help at the WTC are suffering from high levels of mental and physical illness, says a third paper.
“Our findings show a substantial burden of persistent physical and mental disorders in rescue and recovery workers who rushed to the site of the WTC and laboured there for weeks and months 10 years ago. Many of these individuals now suffer from multiple health problems,” write Dr. Juan Wisnivesky and colleagues from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
28% of the rescue and recovery workers have suffered depression at some time since 9/11; 32% have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, and 21% panic disorder. Police officers have lower rates – 7%, 9% and 8% respectively – perhaps because of previous stressful experiences, the sort of people who are recruited, or under-reporting for fear of job-related repercussions.
Many of the 27,000 workers, including police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and municipal workers, whose health has been monitored since 9/11 have breathing-related problems. 42% have respiratory problems.
“Inhalation of toxic, highly alkaline dust is probably the cause of upper and lower respiratory injury in rescue and recovery workers,” says the report.
Over nine years, 28% have had asthma, 42% sinusitis and 39% gastro-oesphageal reflux disease.
Matthew Mauer of the New York State department of health writes in a further commentary: “As we mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, reports of persistent health effects are a sobering reminder that the disaster has had far-reaching effects. One cannot help but wonder what will be reported when we mark the 20th anniversary of this tragedy.”
