Readers React: ‘Superbug’ threat pales in comparison to going uninsured

This article is a beautifully written, dramatically gripping presentation of the risks of lifesaving technologies available in the complex world of healthcare, and of the expert and passionate efforts to identify and control those risks and to prevent harm. (“A killer on the loose: UCLA doctors race to stop superbug outbreak and save patients,” Aug. 1)

Still, it is important to note that this front-page story focused on a single issue that caused the deaths, tragically, of fewer than five patients at UCLA (more nationally).

My hope is that similar reporting, focus and resources will be directed to another, much larger deadly epidemic: that of the more than 30 million people in our nation still uninsured, even with Obamacare, and the Harvard Medical School’s report in the American Journal of Public Health that 45,000 of them unnecessarily die every year for lack of insurance and access to high-quality healthcare.

Robert Vinetz, MD, Los Angeles

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