US mother who died from ovarian cancer helps wipe out millions in medical debts
A posthumous appeal by a US woman who died from cancer has raised enough money in less than a week to wipe out million of dollars in medical debt.
Casey McIntyre told followers in a social media message posted by her husband that she had arranged to pay bills owed by others as a way of celebrating her life.
While she had good health insurance cover, the New York City couple has seen some “terrifying” costs on paperwork for her care and wanted to assist those saddled by hefty charges.
Writing on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms McIntrye posted, “if you’re reading this I have passed away”.
She added: “I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved.
“To celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debt and then destroy the debt.”
The posts included a link to a fundraising campaign started through the non-profit RIP Medical Debt.
Ms McIntyre’s husband, Andrew Rose Gregory, posted the messages on Tuesday following her death on Sunday, and the campaign quickly exceeded its $20,000 (£16,000) goal and now tops more than $170,000 (£136,000) – enough to buy around $17m (£13.6m) in medical debt.
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Mr Gregory said: “What resonated for me and Casey is, you know, there’s good cancer treatment out there that people can’t afford.
“Instead of dreaming of a cure for cancer, what if we could just help people who are being crushed by medical debt?”
The couple started planning the debt-buying campaign after she almost died in May. Pic: AP
Patients in the US healthcare system can quickly rack up big bills that push them into debt even if they have insurance.
This is especially true for people who need hospital treatment, regular care or prescriptions for chronic health problems.
A 2022 analysis of government data from the non-profit KFF estimates nearly one in 10 US adults owe at least $250 (£200) in medical debt.
Of those 23 million people, some 11 million owe more than $2,000 (£1,600).
RIP Medical Debt erases debt bought from hospitals, other health care providers and the secondary debt market.
It buys millions of dollars of debt in bundles for what it says is a fraction of the original value.
The group says every dollar donated buys about $100 (£80) in debt, and it aims to help people with lower incomes.
Ms McIntyre with her daughter, Grace. Pic: AP
Spokesman Daniel Lempert said the organisation has never had a campaign where someone plans for it to start after their death.
Ms McIntyre, who was a book publisher, started treatment for ovarian cancer in 2019.
She spent about three months in the hospital over the past year, her husband said.
The couple started planning for her memorial and the debt-buying campaign after she almost died in May.
They were inspired by a video they saw of North Carolina churchgoers burning about $3m (£2.4m) in medical debt.
Ms McIntyre spent the last five months in home hospice care, giving her what Mr Gregory called a “bonus summer.”
She went on beach trips and spent time with their family, including the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Grace.
He said: “Casey was very, very sick at the end of her life, and she couldn’t finish everything she wanted to finish.
“But I knew she wanted to do this memorial and debt jubilee. So I set that up and… did it the way I thought she would have wanted.”
Israel has probably broken international law – that’s the conclusion of a US State Department report that is both damning yet cautiously equivocal too.
The report, released late last night, is highly critical of Israel, but will also be seen as intentionally non-committal by its critics.
Eagerly anticipated – it was due on Wednesday – the report was written by the US State Department for the US Congress as part of an audit determining how US-supplied weapons overseas are being used.
It concludes that it is “reasonable to assess” that some of Israel’s actions in Gaza have been “inconsistent with its international humanitarian law obligations”.
That is a significant admission by the US government.
But in a feat of legal and verbal gymnastics, the same report also concludes that Israel has not broken the terms for its use of US weapons.
The report is officially called a National Security Memorandum (NSM).
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NSMs are published periodically to determine whether countries to whom America provides weapons have broken the terms for use of those weapons.
In other words, they determine whether weapons are being used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Given the accusations against Israel over Gaza, this report is particularly pertinent.
Remember that a significant proportion of the weapons being used by Israel in Gaza are provided by the US.
The key passages:
• “The nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents. Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defence articles [weapons], it is reasonable to assess that defence articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since 7 October in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”
• “While Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases.”
• “While the US has had deep concerns during the period since 7 October about action and inaction by Israel that contributed significantly to a lack of sustained and predictable delivery of needed assistance at scale, and the overall level reaching Palestinian civilians – while improved – remains insufficient, we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance…”
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The question then is how the US government can conclude that Israel had not violated the terms of the weapons transfer agreement, given that it has concluded that it is “reasonable to assess” that some of Israel’s actions in Gaza have been “inconsistent” with international law?
The US government is hiding behind the fog of war, claiming that they have not assessed any specific case where there has been a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
They have repeatedly told us that they have concerns and that they have opened inquiries with the Israeli government, but that not all the information has been provided.
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The incomplete nature of the investigations into their concerns and the lack of any definitive legal conclusion to the incidents, allows the US government to fall short of concluding that the terms of the weapons deal with Israel have been broken.
US officials also argue that an individual incident or violation by itself does not determine a country’s overall compliance with international humanitarian law.
The report also concludes that US does “not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance”.
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That assessment is already out of date given the closure, by Israel, of both the Rafah and Karem Shalom crossings in southern Gaza preventing all aid from crossing into the strip.
Aid agencies had already criticised the delay of the report’s release, with accusations that it was softened to avoid having to conclude that Israel had violated the weapons deal.
With its release, eventually coming at 5pm Washington time on a Friday, the White House was accused of trying to bury unhelpful news; something a spokesperson denied.
Apple has apologised for its new iPad Pro advert where it crushed cameras, books and musical instruments, saying it “missed the mark”.
The advert – shared online by Apple chief executive Tim Cook – also featured creative tools such as a record player and a metronome being crushed in an industrial press.
It was intended to show off the wide range of tools that the thinnest ever iPad can be used for.
But the advert came under fire, with actor Hugh Grant saying it showed the “destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley”.
In a statement, Apple’s vice president of marketing communications Tor Myhren said: “Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
Songwriter Crispin Hunt called the advert “surprisingly tone-deaf” and said Apple “previously enabled and championed creativity”.
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Adam Singer, from advertising technology company AdQuick, called it the “(unintentional) perfect metaphor for today’s creative dark age”.
“Compress organic instruments, joyful/imperfect machines, tangible art, our entire physical reality into a soulless, postmodern, read-only device a multi-trillion dollar corporation controls what you do with,” he wrote on X.
Sales for iPads dropped 17% for January to March compared to the same period a year ago. The tablets currently account for just 6% of the company’s sales.
Two skiers have been killed during an avalanche in mountains near Salt Lake City.
The men, aged 23 and 32, were swept up in the avalanche in Utah’s Wasatch Range on Thursday morning.
A third skier was rescued and taken to hospital after digging himself out from the snow, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
The avalanche followed several days of spring snowstorms in the area.
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Craig Gordon, from the Utah Avalanche Center, said around 2.5ft (76cm) of heavy, wet snow had fallen in the area in the past three days during the snow storms, which he said had also brought very strong winds.
“With spring, avalanche conditions can change in an instant,” Mr Gordon said.
He also described the sight of the avalanche, near Lone Peak, as “very serious” and “steep” terrain.
An ambulance at the scene. Pic: Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP
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Lone Peak, is one of the highest peaks in the Wasatch Range, towering over Utah’s capital city.
Its steep, rugged terrain makes it a popular destination for advanced back country skiers and experienced climbers.
The sheriff’s office said the families of the two skiers had been notified of their deaths.
The deaths bring this winter’s tally of avalanche deaths in the US to at least 15 – which is less than the average of about 30 people who are killed by avalanches each year.
In January, one person was killed and another person was injured during an avalanche in Lake Tahoe.
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