‘UNGRATEFUL’

[1-868]

‘UNGRATEFUL’

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/ungrateful-206861481.html
Fuad blasts sextuplets’ parents on complaints:
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: May 9, 2013 at 9:26 PM ECT

Story Updated: May 9, 2013 at 11:36 PM ECT

The sextuplets’ parents are ungrateful and owe the Government, the Prime Minister and the taxpayers of this country a “thank you” for all that was done to ensure that mother and babies had the best care possible, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said yesterday.

The March 4 birth of the sextuplets to parents Petra Lee Foon, a teacher, and Kieron Cummings, a bank employee, was a first for Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. 

Extensive plans were put into place at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital to ensure a smooth Caesarian-section delivery of the babies, and close to $5 million was spent to purchase equipment for the babies’ aftercare at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Two of the babies—the youngest and eldest—have since died.

Cummings, according to a Guardian report, said he regretted not ta­king his wife abroad as he was dis­satisfied with the aftercare at Mt Hope.

An upset Khan, speaking to the Express yesterday after the post-Cabinet news conference at the St Clair office of the Prime Minister, took issue with Cummings’ statements.

“I hope he doesn’t have a complaint about the house now that he has gotten from the Government. I wonder if he will say that the room is too small, or they need air-conditioning or they need another storey put on. Looking at their method of approach to what the health sector did for them and to know what is happening now, sometimes, people have to be grateful in life,” said Khan.

Last Friday, the parents were giv­en keys to a three-bedroom Housing Development Corporation (HDC) house in Edinburgh 500.

Cummings, following the birth of his babies, had said that top priority was having a home to raise his children as he lived with his parents in Arima and the mother lived with her parents in Central.

Cummings has said he plans to marry his babies’ mother following her recovery.

Khan said not only were millions spent to ensure the babies had first-class treatment, great sacrifices were also made as other babies had to be accommodated at the Port of Spain General Hospital and the San Fernando General Hospital when the sextuplets were at the NICU.

“I think, at the end of the day, when people get things easy, they don’t appreciate it,” said Khan.

Questioned on the aftercare of the babies at the NICU, which Cummings has taken issue with, Khan responded: “According to the head of the neonatal unit, Dr Carmanee Lutchman, she indicated to me that the aftercare was on international standards, based on all the things we put into place.”

“Now, at the end of the day, one has to ask: what is the motive? Why are they (parents) doing this?” said Khan.

“Time has come to actually tell the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and, hopefully, the Prime Minister thank you for the house when other people didn’t get it, and thank you for bending over backwards to assist us,” Khan added.

He questioned further how exactly was Cummings going to afford international care for his wife and babies if he had to apply for Government housing and depend on the HDC for a home.

Khan said the public health sector strives to deliver the best care possible for all patients and will continue, despite the negative comments from persons who are ungrateful.

He said further that the pregnancy was not a natural one as fertility drugs were used.

“One has to investigate the use of Clomid; Clomid brings out congenital birth malformations,” said Khan as he stressed that in these pregnancies where the babies are premature, there are numerous complications and, therefore, it was unjust to blame the health system for the two babies that died.

Khan said studies were done on the drug that needed to be looked at.

According to a report on website webmd.com, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labelled Clomid as a drug that should not be used in pregnancy because it raises the risk of major birth defects.

The report stated a study was done on Clomid which found that women who opted to use Clomid on their own, without medical supervision, had a 300 per cent higher risk of having a baby born with a birth defect compared with fertile couples.

[asylumseeker]

You get what you don't pay for!

[TdotTrini]

This minister is something else boy. The equipment brought especially for these kids will benefit and save the lives of other babies in similar circumstances. Khan choose to be a market woman and expose the people personal medical records to the public.
Khan basically saying they should be grateful only two kids died so far.

[D.H.W]

Media going to have a field day with this

[1-868]

I wonder if he would have said that, if these people were of a different ethnicity? 

[congo]

Jump high or jump low, two babies died.

 I'm sure there are some teaching hospitals in the US who would have gladly welcomed the chance to deliver these babies at their institutions. I wished the father had taken up the opportunity to go overseas if it was indeed extended to him. Sometimes it's not worth it to be patriotic.

The mere fact that equipment needed to be bought to cater for these children shows a complete lack of foresight on the part of the medical institutions. Equipment that will hopefully be used in the future to care for other babies. So it's not like the money was spent for these children alone.

These people somehow believe that taxpayers money belongs to them. The parents are grieving and will never get the two children they lost. It's not about ungratefulness, it's about the parents feeling powerless to save their children. Give them a break.

[grimm01]

The  more that come out about this couple the more I find it hard to believe that these are two supposedly educated and sensible adults and not two vacuous teenagers completely naive to the realities of life:

• Not married, not living together, but undertake the expense of fertility treatments
• Take fertility treatment and completely unprepared for the most common side effect - multiple births
• 9 months to prepare for 6 babies and looking completely shocked and clueless about the future when they arrive
• Complaining about how yuh shoulda send the woman overseas to have the baby - who was going to foot that bill? If yuh couldnt pay in TT$, yuh was going to manage in US or pounds? We know yuh broke because yuh kept telling the media

This whole affair has demonstrated a level of absurdity and assness that is reflective of the general lack of foresight, thoughtfulness, accountability and responsibility in the country as a whole.

But for all the nonsense, they are still taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago and are entitled to have their children in the maternity ward of a public hospital and have it adequately staffed and supplied.

Instead of taking the high road, the Minister has decided to compound the foolishness by telling them that they should be grateful??? Because Mr. Minister, if it wasn't for the goodness of the PP government this couple would have been banned from Mt. Hope??? Lawd I guess they should be grateful all the children didn't dead. Nuff woman going in to have one child and walking out with two hands swinging.

My favorite line from the Minister “I think, at the end of the day, when people get things easy, they don’t appreciate it"... yes easy things like proper healthcare.

The only thing to top this off now would be for the idiot parents to sue the government for malpractice.

[weary1969]

Faud getting on like a child who say give me back my marbles when he playing pitch. The people eh get a free house they were moved to the head of the line to get a house. They have a morgage to pay. CLASSLESS.

[congo]

Something about that ungrateful statement just rubbing me the wrong way. They are taxpayers, they accessed a public good. Since when is it necessary for a taxpayer to be grateful or say thanks for accessing a public good. Thankful to the Prime Minister? He really serious? Them really feel she is some kinda queen or deity or something. GTFOH..!!!

[weary1969]

They does call Rowley a wajang.

[mal jeux]

The  more that come out about this couple the more I find it hard to believe that these are two supposedly educated and sensible adults and not two vacuous teenagers completely naive to the realities of life:

• Not married, not living together, but undertake the expense of fertility treatments
• Take fertility treatment and completely unprepared for the most common side effect - multiple births
• 9 months to prepare for 6 babies and looking completely shocked and clueless about the future when they arrive
• Complaining about how yuh shoulda send the woman overseas to have the baby - who was going to foot that bill? If yuh couldnt pay in TT$, yuh was going to manage in US or pounds? We know yuh broke because yuh kept telling the media

This whole affair has demonstrated a level of absurdity and assess that is reflective of the general lack of foresight, thoughtfulness, accountability and responsibility in the country as a whole.

But for all the nonsense, they are still taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago and are entitled to have their children in the maternity ward of a public hospital and have it adequately staffed and supplied.

Instead of taking the high road, the Minister has decided to compound the foolishness by telling them that they should be grateful??? Because Mr. Minister, if it wasn't for the goodness of the PP government this couple would have been banned from Mt. Hope??? Lawd I guess they should be grateful all the children didn't dead. Nuff woman going in to have one child and walking out with two hands swinging.

My favorite line from the Minister “I think, at the end of the day, when people get things easy, they don’t appreciate it"... yes easy things like proper healthcare.

The only thing to top this off now would be for the idiot parents to sue the government for malpractice.

exactly

[ribbit]

just a question - when cummings said he wished they had gone foreign for the births, would that have been on their own money?

[congo]

just a question - when cummings said he wished they had gone foreign for the births, would that have been on their own money?

Multiple births are rare so maybe some hospitals would have offered the opportunity to deliver the babies as part of a learning experience for the hospital as well as the good publicity it provides. That's my belief of course. It's what they do with conjoined twins etc. They were boasting about this being a first in the Caribbean and the medical staff was looking foward to this new experience.

[asylumseeker]

Something about that ungrateful statement just rubbing me the wrong way. They are taxpayers, they accessed a public good. Since when is it necessary for a taxpayer to be grateful or say thanks for accessing a public good. Thankful to the Prime Minister? He really serious? Them really feel she is some kinda queen or deity or something. GTFOH..!!!

I think what we're missing here is the frustration experienced from dealing with these parents behind the scene. I do not believe the Minister has any doubt, or improper notion, as to what taxpayers are entitled. My interpretation of his commentary is that given the context of the parents (well-described by grimm01), they come across as not being grateful in the totality of the circumstances. He's addressing the entitlement culture - even as the medical infrastructure made all requisite preparations to accommodate them. Also, let's bear in mind that the government holds no obligation to house them. And, these infants likely could have died in any facility outside of T&T, given the fragility of their circumstances. The father may be speaking emotively, but he's being irresponsible, and arguably, irresponsible yet again.

Moreover, there's a video on Youtube in which David Muhammad is doing a walkabout (in Sea Lots ah think!?) with the NOI and stumbles across the kids from another historic multiple birth ... he gives the grandmother some $$$ ... those kids don't live in stellar circumstances and certainly did not receive the largesse of the state. What distinguishes them from these infants?

To the poster above who imputed race into the equation, I think you're far off the mark.

[Dutty]

Seeker, wha kinda temperate well balanced objective assessment vibe you on dey.
Too much cognitive engagement in de flow

we doh do dem ting in here dred, is pure visceral and emotional responses we does be on
Fix yuhself accordingly...tank yuh

[weary1969]

i doh care if the Cummings fella pullin a tantrum by throwinghimself on the floor and slamming doors. No justification for the so call Hon Minister 2 call them ungrateful and mention the house that they will be paying for. they eh get a free house. they paying their licence to occupy until TTMF Morgage kick in.

[asylumseeker]

... they jump the queue, ent?

[asylumseeker]

Seeker, wha kinda temperate well balanced objective assessment vibe you on dey.
Too much cognitive engagement in de flow

we doh do dem ting in here dred, is pure visceral and emotional responses we does be on
Fix yuhself accordingly...tank yuh

Truetrini's shoes are hard to fill. 

[elan]

I don't care if they are a pain in de arse, to say "what the government did for you all" is very amateurish and quite frankly childish. The responsibility of the government is to provide these services to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Who's fault is it that the government does not have a facility to handle a medical situation as this.

If Sando Hospital have a heart patient, what happens? They're transferred most likely to EWMC, not so?

These statements from the HONORABLE minister is not good. When it comes to medical, educational, security, or infrastructure then that is not a culture of "hand outs", it is an expectation of good governance and the carry out of basic duties and responsibilities by the government for its people. To say "we" spent $5 million to prepare for "you" only show how up the government and it's short-comings when providing its citizens with medical facilities and services.

[sammy]

The minister shoulda stay quiet.


but i wish i could get a house.... i go be grateful to get it infront of everyone else

[ribbit]

The minister shoulda stay quiet.


but i wish i could get a house.... i go be grateful to get it infront of everyone else

thaiz just what i was about to ask. how long that line up is?

[weary1969]

... they jump the queue, ent?

Like the people from Trou Maque wit the fire who now living Oropoune. This govt housing policy is get flood out burn out etc and u jump d line.

[mal jeux]

... they jump the queue, ent?

Like the people from Trou Maque wit the fire who now living Oropoune. This govt housing policy is get flood out burn out etc and u jump d line.

most needy?

[weary1969]

... they jump the queue, ent?

Like the people from Trou Maque wit the fire who now living Oropoune. This govt housing policy is get flood out burn out etc and u jump d line.

most needy?

They alone needy? That cannot be the only criteria for allocation.

[zuluwarrior]

Welcome to the land of new lagoon stink mud mangrove politics , it would never get better than this.

Maybe jus maybe it might get better one day soon .

[Jah Gol]

Context is important. Last week the Minister's stewardship on the Health Sector was brought into question with reference to the increasing infant mortality in this country .This issue was highlighted a UN report last year that the Express referenced in the frontpage story "Too Many Babies Dying". It was brought up in the Budget Debate and has come back up again in the Senate. He's under a bit of scrutiny.

The comments of the father refer to the quality of care at Mt. Hope , a public health facility for which is the Minister actually has some responsibility .

For the record let me state that the Government doesn't have the responsibility for housing but in this country has a significant role to play in the delivery of public health services. I don't see the provisions made for the care of these children at Mt. Hope as an act of generosity but surely was or should have been a duty.

The minister is attempting to conflate issues between the public spectacle that was made by the government in the birth and care of these children and his own responsibility and that of the the personnel at Mt. Hope.

Conversely the father's comments should to be viewed from the perspective of a man who just lost two of his children.He may not be the most rational person right now. The public may not be able to be that sensitive but the minister should.

The issue is not state sponsored largess re: house, food and clothing which the government happily promoted on their own accord. The issue is Mt. Hope which is actually the government's responsibility. The minister's comments needed to be more focused on his function and required much more tact in the given the situation.

[mal jeux]

... they jump the queue, ent?

Like the people from Trou Maque wit the fire who now living Oropoune. This govt housing policy is get flood out burn out etc and u jump d line.

most needy?

They alone needy? That cannot be the only criteria for allocation.

is that what you read?

[mal jeux]

Welcome to the land of new lagoon stink mud mangrove politics , it would never get better than this.

Maybe jus maybe it might get better one day soon .

nah another set of jokers will take the reigns. not from the lagoon, but from the hills?

[lefty]

Welcome to the land of new lagoon stink mud mangrove politics , it would never get better than this.

Maybe jus maybe it might get better one day soon .

nah another set of jokers will take the reigns. not from the lagoon, but from the hills?

how about we leave race behind so d the jokers where ever dey from cyah use dat again...how about dat? d vicious cycle has to end.....but each side have to stop playin blind when it convenient.

[mal jeux]

Welcome to the land of new lagoon stink mud mangrove politics , it would never get better than this.

Maybe jus maybe it might get better one day soon .

nah another set of jokers will take the reigns. not from the lagoon, but from the hills?

how about we leave race behind so d the jokers where ever dey from cyah use dat again...how about dat? d vicious cycle has to end.....but each side have to stop playin blind when it convenient.

wrong person fella. check the lagoon man.