Elwood Indiana School Board Superintendent Dr. Casey Smitherman is my hero of the day. She put humanity over a system that kills. They call what she did a felony. I call it resistance to a healthcare system that is tantamount to legal extortion.
I woke up this morning to a heart-wrenching article. Here is her story.
Fox 59 reported the following.
ELWOOD, Ind. – Elwood’s superintendent faces several charges after police say she sought medical treatment for a student using her son’s name. Charges against Casey Smitherman include official misconduct, insurance fraud, insurance application fraud identity deception. “I understand it was her desire to help a young man that was in bad shape but probably not the best example to set for young people to assume other identities and make false statements,” Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said.
According to court documents, a 15-year-old student didn’t come to school on Jan. 9 because he had a sore throat. Smitherman picked him up and took him to the med check in Elwood so a doctor could examine him. However, she signed the student in under her son’s name and also had a prescription for Amoxicillin filled at CVS under her son’s name. The teen tore the name off the bottle’s label because he “knew it was wrong” and “to have a prescription in his possession with a different name is bad,” court documents said. Police received a tip about the situation and followed up with the teen’s guardian on Jan. 16. A day later, Smitherman talked to Elwood police about the situation.
I wonder who and why someone tipped off police on this seeming act of compassion. The school board issued a statement of support. The community has also been supportive.
Superintendent Dr. Casey Smitherman
Superintendent Dr. Casey Smitherman said she was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor. She said she cooperated fully with authorities every step of the way and that she will likely get into a diversion program that will wipe her record clean after a year.
If America had a humane healthcare system, a child would not have to go through hoops to get basic healthcare. It is time for Americans to demand Single-Payer Medicare for All. In such a system, every American resident would have a healthcare card they can use when they get sick. And the entire healthcare bill of the U.S. would go down.