Was lack of insurance reason hospital discharged woman in medical crisis?

Shocking footage has emerged of Knoxville police officers mocking an elderly, disabled woman Lisa Edwards, in the midst of a medical crisis as they forcibly remove her from the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center while accusing her of fabricating her claims of suffering from a stroke, having difficulty breathing and suffering from an ankle injury. Edwards, who was wheelchair bound and physically disabled, was told she was interfering with the officers' morning coffee and that they need a good place to leave her on the ground, covered with a white sheet, before manhandling her as they forced her into their van. 

Divine punishment needed

Edwards did in fact suffer a stroke and fell unconscious in policy custody, en route to jail, after her pleas for additional medical care were belittled, as captured in a difficult to watch video. She died the next day and Newsweek quoted Edwards' daughter-in-law, August Boylon, as saying, “the officers and security guards who tortured her [belong in hell].”

The Washington Post also highlighted the ruthless behavior of the officers, quoting them calling Edwards “dead weight” and verbally attacking her for making them “deal with your mess.” 

Hospitals turning away profits?

What mainstream media did not cover, though, is why a woman in the midst of a medical crisis was discharged. Hospitals make a profit on expensive diagnostic tests like CT brain scans when insurance companies reimburse them for the use of machines the hospital owns. The hospital also stood to receive payments for each day Edwards would be hospitalized, provided, of course, that she was insured, leading social media users to posit that she was not.

Police relying on hospitals

When the hospital released Edwards, they apparently did not attempt to reach her relatives or friends to arrange for her transport, despite her lack of mobility and medical crisis. It also appears that the hospital staff did not involve their in-house social worker or local welfare authorities to attempt to secure her safe arrival to a nursing home or other care center.

When the police arrived to remove Edwards from the hospital's premises, at the request of the hospital, officers relied on the hospital's discharge to demand that she climb up into their police van. Officers are heard repeatedly in their body cam videos telling Edwards that she's fine and must be lying because the hospital cleared her and discharged her.

Hospital mum

We submitted the following letter and questions to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. As of press time, the hospital had not responded.

We are preparing a piece about Lisa Edwards who died on February 6, 2023, of a stroke she suffered the day before, shortly after being discharged from your emergency room and being refused additional treatment and after your security guards called the police to forcibly remove her from the hospital as she was saying she feels like she's having a stroke and cannot physically leave.

Please let us know:

1. Did Ms. Edwards have health insurance when she appeared in your emergency room?
2. If Ms. Edwards did not have health insurance, was that a factor in her being discharged?
3. While in your emergency room, was Ms. Edwards able to use her left side and was her speech slurred, symptoms which August Boylan, a registered nurse who is married to Ms. Edwards' son, Timothy Boylan, says she observed in police body cam video taken shortly after Ms. Edwards' discharge from your emergency room, according to USA Today?
4. How many minutes did a physician spend with Ms. Edwards before her discharge?
5. Was (were) the physician(s) who saw Ms. Edwards before her discharge specialists in the treatment of stroke or any other specialty? If so, what was the speciality listed in their medical license?
6. What observations and/or test results were relied upon by the treating physician(s) in determining that Ms. Edwards was in stable condition (as your hospital has publicly stated Ms. Edwards was) and able to be discharged?
7. Did any of your staff members alert the hospital social workers or any representatives of the local social welfare department that an elderly, obese, unhealthy and weak woman, Ms. Edwards, was being discharged against her will, as she complained of stroke symptoms, and that she was alone, without any family members or friends to help her leave the hospital?
8. Did any of your staff members call or speak with in any way family members or friends of Ms. Edwards to alert them to Ms. Edwards discharge and her condition?
9. Was anyone from your staff aware, before Ms. Edwards was rushed back to your hospital unconscious in an ambulance, that the police officers responding to your hospital’s call for assistance in removing Ms. Edwards from your hospital said that they did not believe her claims of a stroke and physical weakness specifically because they were informed that the hospital considered her well enough to leave and they were relying on that assessment?

Please share these answers and any other comments you have about Ms. Edwards' treatment at your hospital before 1 pm EST so that we may include them in our article.