Fighting Corporations and a Death Sentence

Four years after a health insurance company decided her life wasn’t worth saving, 18-year-old Miran Istina, who suffers from myelogenous leukemia, has dedicated her struggle to the global fight against the corporate control of politics.

When it became clear that her middle-class parents could not afford the bone marrow transplant that could save her, Istina spent three years traveling the United States in search of a sympathetic health care provider. No one came forward. Now, with little hope of survival, she has committed what remains of her life to the San Francisco chapter of Occupy Wall Street, which she hopes can prevent a prevailing combination of money and politics from condemning others to death. –Alexander Reed Kelly

The Guardian:

After repeated refusals to offer her treatment, she said: “I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life doing whatever my heart wants.”

… She said: “The corporate influence on politics influences just about anything that happens, seeing as politicians write the plans that healthcare has to follow. It directly links the fact that insurers only pick and choose those who are actually worth it [financially]. I just happen to not be one of the ones they wanted to be around much longer.

… “I used to be really upset about it. I’m not as much any more. I’m angry, for sure, but I think me being here might help it never happen again. That’s why I’m here. It’s that there are other people this is going to happen to if this movement doesn’t succeed and that’s not healthy. I’m done being the victim. However long I have left is dedicated heart and soul to this movement, no matter what it takes.”

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