Re: Another death in the D. R.

colliemom4 · ‎09-08-2010

I saw a group of people representing the Dominican Republic speaking on the news claiming nothing is going on over there. Yeah right. People are becoming violently ill and dropping dead almost daily.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

This death sounds different than the rest. I had a friend on dialysis and she didn't go anywhere without scoping out the dialysis center. Plus she had to go where her insurance covered. This lady must have had a home dialysis machine, so she didn't check if dialysis was available. Either way, it's still sad dying and dying on vacation.

MaryLamb · ‎04-03-2019

@GCR18 wrote:
This death sounds different than the rest. I had a friend on dialysis and she didn't go anywhere without scoping out the dialysis center. Plus she had to go where her insurance covered. This lady must have had a home dialysis machine, so she didn't check if dialysis was available. Either way, it's still sad dying and dying on vacation.

@GCR18 Yeah, this isn’t related to the other deaths. I’m happy at least one other person here had the sense to actually read the article.

bikerbabe · ‎03-09-2010

Even though she was a dialysis patient, the report I read said that she had uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea and that is what prompted going to the hospital. The family claims they told emergency personnel that she was a kidney patient but she was treated at a hospital without a hemodialysis unit.

I would like to add that there are Americans connected with missionary work and charities who travel to DR on a regular basis. It’s not just vacationers.

occasionalrain · ‎03-10-2010

Are all the unlikely/unexpected deaths Americans? I haven't seen any reports that similar deaths occurred involving tourists from other countries. If it's only those from the US, it's even more suspicious.

sissel · ‎08-13-2010

my BFF called we talked about this our close friend's are over there for a wedding, they planned this a year ago. I am so worried his daughter is getting married there, What is going on? My dd got engaged no way in life is she going anywhere, we got so much nice things for her wedding we can go to Vegas, Calif, whatever no way.

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

snip

Dominican authorities ruled that her cause of death was kidney failure.

Dominican authorities ruled that her cause of death was kidney failure but Cannon's sister has her doubts

'Their conclusion was renal failure, but it never addressed what initially got her sick in the first place,' Johnson added.

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

Now it is 12 dead

Two more Americans — a man from Kansas and a woman from Pennsylvania — died during vacations in the Dominican Republic, amid a recent spate of tourist deaths in the country, according to a new report.

The families of Chris Palmer — a 41-year-old Army veteran from Kansas who died on April 18, 2018, and Barbara Diane Maser-Mitchell, a 69-year-old retired nurse from Pennsylvania who died on Sept. 17, 2016 — came forward to Fox News to report their deaths.

The State Department confirmed the deaths to the network Thursday.

Both Palmer and Maser-Mitchell died of heart attacks, according to official determinations by Dominican authorities, the report said.

Palmer was staying at the Villa Cocotal Palma resort in Punta Cana, according to Fox News. He’d been working at a Mexican resort and went to the Dominican Republic in hopes of selling timeshares and teaching scuba diving there, friends and family said.

He was a salesman and scuba diving instructor who loved traveling, his daughter, Meghan Palmer, told Fox.

In reports given to Palmer’s family, obtained by the outlet, Dominican authorities said that he had pulmonary edema. But those who knew him feared that wasn’t the whole story.

“As soon as he died, I wondered if he was poisoned, if he was drugged,” Bernadette Hiller, his one-time girlfriend who remained a close friend, told the network. “He was healthy as a horse.”

At some point during his stay, Palmer told his friends he had a bad headache, Palmer told the outlet.

He was found dead in his room after aspirating his own vomit, Dominican authorities said, according to the report.

Like many others whose relatives have recently died in the country, Palmer’s loved ones said they felt pressured to get his body cremated.

“We are devastated and are seeking answers,” Hiller told Fox. “This was so sudden and unexpected. This has been a nightmare for his family.”

Maser-Mitchell died during her stay at the Excellence resort in Punta Cana, where she celebrated her birthday with her son and his long-time companion, according to the report.

She started to feel sick on her second day there, after having cocktails, her son’s companion, Terry Mackey, told the outlet.

The next day, Maser-Mitchell wasn’t any better and decided not to join them for breakfast.

She drank in moderation — but never to excess, Mackey said.

“In the 15 years I knew her, she never suffered aftereffects,” Mackey told Fox.

The family contacted the resort doctor, who suggested the woman go to the hospital — which she at first declined, and then agreed to go. In the ambulance, she went into cardiac arrest.

“I was sitting in the ambulance with her, holding her hand the whole time,” Mackey told the outlet.

The woman’s corpse was in such bad shape when it arrived in the US that relatives couldn’t view her, according to Mackey. Dominican authorities had allegedly claimed that the body had not been properly preserved.

Before the trip, Maser-Mitchell went for a medical exam, where she was given the all-clear to go on vacation, Mackey added.

Maser-Mitchell was in generally good health, and it wasn’t clear if she drank anything from the room minibar, Mackey told the network.

“She was a [licensed practical nurse], she knew the symptoms of a heart attack, she would have known,” Mackey said. “She didn’t present symptoms of a heart attack.”

Dominican authorities are expected to hold a Friday press conference in which they will detail final autopsy reports on the recent wave of deaths among US tourists in the country.

The resorts did not immediately return requests for comment.