Clinton Caught in another Lie? Ohio Hospital Contradicts Her Story


April 5th, 2008

From the New York Times.

For weeks now Senator Clinton has been telling a story about Trina Bachtel “an uninsured pregnant woman who lost her baby and died herself after being denied care by an Ohio hospital because she could not come up with a $100 fee.” The Ohio hospital O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio claims that Bachtel was actually under the care of an obstetrics practice affiliated with the hospital and was never denied service.

From the article:

“We implore the Clinton campaign to immediately desist from repeating this story,” said Rick Castrop, chief executive officer of the O’Bleness Health System.

Linda M. Weiss, a spokeswoman for the not-for-profit hospital, said the Clinton campaign had never contacted the hospital to check the accuracy of the story, which Mrs. Clinton had first heard from a Meigs County, Ohio, sheriff’s deputy in late February.

A Clinton spokesman, Mo Elleithee, said candidates would frequently retell stories relayed to them, vetting them when possible. “In this case, we did try but were not able to fully vet it,” Mr. Elleithee said. “If the hospital claims it did not happen that way, we respect that.”

The sheriff’s deputy, Bryan Holman, had played host to Mrs. Clinton in his home before the Ohio primary. Deputy Holman said in a telephone interview that a conversation about health care led him to relate the story of Ms. Bachtel. He never mentioned the name of the hospital that supposedly turned her away because he did not know it, he said.

Deputy Holman knew Ms. Bachtel’s story only secondhand, having learned it from close relatives of the woman. Ms. Bachtel’s relatives did not return phone calls Friday.



Posted in Hillary Clinton | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Clinton Caught in another Lie? Ohio Hospital Contradicts Her Story”
  1. Jay McDonough Says:

    from swimming freestyle:

    “…Senator Clinton, in voting to authorize the war, displayed a tragic recklessness. A more complete picture, in fact the “real” truth was available, and the Senator didn’t make the effort to seek it out. The logical question given the gravity and ramifications of that vote: Was it just carelessness or a willingness to select the data set that provided an advantageous political position?

    And so we come to Trina Brachtel, her baby boy, and O’Bleness Memorial Hospital. ”

    http://swimmingfreestyle.typepad.com

  2. Clinton Caught in another Lie? Ohio Hospital Contradicts Her Story « It’s ONLY Politics Says:

    [...] The Rest of the Story [...]

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