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Power Company Kills Woman Using Breathing Machine Because of Unpaid Bill

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by hotballa, May 30, 2007.

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hotballa Contributing Member

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If true, just terrible, and sadly totally something I see Con Edison in NY doing.

The Technician was actually at the house and told she needed the eletricity for her breathing machine.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276315,00.html

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand mother who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home due to an unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Police said they launched an investigation into the death of Folole Muliaga, 44, on Tuesday, in the northern city of Auckland, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house.

Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened.

He refused to say how much money Muliaga had owed the company.

Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children ages 5 to 20, had been off work since February with an illness when a Mercury Energy representative arrived on Tuesday to disconnect the electricity, said Sheehan, a nephew-in-law of Muliaga's.

Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it, so he knew the situation.

"Then he cut the power off," he told The Associated Press.

Almost immediately, Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.

Inspector Bruce Bird said police would investigate the death.

Moulder said the company restored electricity to the house on Wednesday after learning of the woman's death, and that the grieving family had spent a night without power.

Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family, and said the company was checking reports that it had been warned Muliaga needed power for the oxygen machine.

Sheehan said the family's bills would prove Muliaga was trying to pay the account, and received no warning the power would be shut off. He declined to say how much she owed.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said there were also reports the family had been warned about the overdue account, something Sheehan disputed.

"The correct authority to investigate this and sort out the facts is the police," Mallard said, adding the government would expect "full accountability" if the company was found to be culpable.

Auckland University professor of law Bill Hodge said manslaughter charges could potentially could be filed, depending on what information Mercury Energy had and how it was expressed to them.

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#1 hotballa, May 30, 2007

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that is just awful.

Not that it will offset the fact that they basically murdered this poor woman, but I hope that they have to pay a ridiculous settlement and that the guy gets criminal charges for cutting it off after seeing the situation

#2 Blake, May 30, 2007
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I read that it was something like $122...that's crazy...Not that the power companies need more ammunition that they are money grubbing azzes...

#3 rrj_gamz, May 30, 2007
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blakekoen2 said:

that is just awful.

Not that it will offset the fact that they basically murdered this poor woman, but I hope that they have to pay a ridiculous settlement and that the guy gets criminal charges for cutting it off after seeing the situation
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Awful it is but the guy was doing his job.and the family knew about the bill.

#4 edwardc, May 30, 2007
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edwardc said:

Awful it is but the guy was doing his job.and the family knew about the bill.
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That's not good enough of a but. He knowingly committed murder. I'd walk away and tell my boss I couldn't do it.

Inexcusable.

Evan

#5 emjohn, May 30, 2007
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edwardc said:

Awful it is but the guy was doing his job.and the family knew about the bill.
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Using that as an excuse to cut off the means to power her breathing machine is insane.

This woman suffocated over $122. I'm guessing that suffocation is not pleasant.

This cannot be tolerated in a sophisticated society.

#6 Refman, May 30, 2007
hotballa Contributing Member

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edwardc said:

Awful it is but the guy was doing his job.and the family knew about the bill.
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thats the same as a taxi driver running over a kid after seeing him from a block away because he was trying to get his passenger to the airport on time.

#7 hotballa, May 30, 2007

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hotballa said:

thats the same as a taxi driver running over a kid after seeing him from a block away because he was trying to get his passenger to the airport on time.
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Well I'm sure these guys hear stories every day.

#8 MR. MEOWGI, May 30, 2007
hotballa Contributing Member

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emjohn said:

That's not good enough of a but. He knowingly committed murder. I'd walk away and tell my boss I couldn't do it.

Inexcusable.

Evan
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or maybe calling your boss. I can't imagine the home office telling him to go ahead and do it when someone is claiming their life is on the line.

#9 hotballa, May 30, 2007
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edwardc said:

Awful it is but the guy was doing his job.and the family knew about the bill.
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If you can't pay, you can't pay. He was (allegedly) invited inside and saw the breathing machine. This isn't a simple case of "but I really have to watch Oprah!" excuse. He could have called the company and put it off...especially if it was for that low of a dollar amount.

If he did that and they said do it anyway, I can understand

#10 Blake, May 30, 2007
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I vote that hotballa's forum title be changed from "Contributing Member" to "Debbie Downer".

#11 Manny Ramirez, May 30, 2007
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If it was a matter of life and death that her power be kept on, the family should have paid the bill and none of this would have happened. It shouldn't be relied on that the power company provide charity... or "let it go".

#12 Party Boy, May 30, 2007
hotballa Contributing Member

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Party Boy said:

If it was a matter of life and death that her power be kept on, the family should have paid the bill and none of this would have happened. It shouldn't be relied on that the power company provide charity... or "let it go".
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I dont see any calls for charity, just leniency to give the family time to pay the bill.

#13 hotballa, May 30, 2007

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So they should magically pull money out of their a**es?

#14 Blake, May 30, 2007
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hotballa said:

I dont see any calls for charity, just leniency to give the family time to pay the bill.
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Yeah but it seems like they were given several unpaid bill notices already.

#15 Party Boy, May 30, 2007
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blakekoen2 said:

So they should magically pull money out of their a**es?
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No, I blame the power company not the electrician. If they talked to the company and knew the situation then they shouldn't have cut it off. But I'm sure electricians hear stories every day and have people beg them not to turn off their electricity. I don't blame him personally.

#16 MR. MEOWGI, May 30, 2007
hotballa Contributing Member

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Party Boy said:

Yeah but it seems like they were given several unpaid bill notices already.
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And according to the family, they were trying to pay it, and had not been completely ignoring it. What more could they do?

Sheehan said the family's bills would prove Muliaga was trying to pay the account, and received no warning the power would be shut off.
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#17 hotballa, May 30, 2007
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MR. MEOWGI said:

No, I blame the power company not the electrician. If they talked to the company and knew the situation then they shouldn't have cut it off. But I'm sure electricians hear stories every day and have people beg them not to turn off their electricity. I don't blame him personally.
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I do to an extent. It's obviously the Power Company and the guy wants to keep his job, but they actually (again...allegedly) showed him the machine and her child agreed about it's vital importance, and he didn't (allegedly) even call a supervisor to discuss it. To me, that is being an accomplice.

But yeah, the primary responsibility falls on the power company, but if he just blew it off and shut it down, he had a role in the murder of that woman

#18 Blake, May 30, 2007

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blakekoen2 said:

If he did that and they said do it anyway, I can understand
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eh? i'd quit my job first before living with the idea that i was directly responsible for someone's death.

#19 Kyakko, May 30, 2007
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Kyakko said:

eh? i'd quit my job first, before living with the idea that i was directly responsible for someone's death.
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So would I. But perhaps if he didn't get that paycheck that week, his kids wouldn't be able to eat or something.

I'm not defending him (see post above)

#20 Blake, May 30, 2007

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