Boy who died of tooth abscess becomes symbol for reform

‘‘It was a tragedy that he died, just a tragedy. It should not have happened,” said Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative. ‘‘This story highlights why we have to ensure everybody has quality affordable health care.”

DeMarco said the incident could add urgency to his group’s proposal to impose an additional $1-per-pack tobacco tax to help expand Medicaid eligibility. He said extending the coverage to more adults would in turn extend coverage to more children.

Driver, a seventh-grader at Largo’s Foundation School, died after an infection from a tooth abscess spread to his brain. The Washington Post reported that Driver was a homeless child whose Medicaid had lapsed, and that the family had great difficulty finding a dentist to treat him.

Laurie Norris, a staff attorney at Baltimore’s Public Justice Center who has been assisting the family since August, said Deamonte’s younger brother DaShawn still needs to have four rotted teeth removed. Two were removed since December, but she said his mother Alyce is concerned they are not being removed fast enough.

Norris said she hopes Driver’s case will spur overdue legislative action on dental care.

She now wants to push lawmakers to require that every child under the Maryland Children’s Health Program, which provides healthcare for low-income children, be linked with a primary care dentist. Children in the program are already linked with a primary care doctor, but not with a dentist, even though dental care is provided through the program.

‘‘I think that that would go a long way toward short-circuiting the barriers and red tape that families like the Drivers experience every day,” Norris said.

Prince George’s politicians say Driver’s death is also fueling support for a proposal from Baltimore city Del. Nathaniel Oaks (D-Dist. 41) that would provide $6 million over three years toward expanding dental care to low-income and disabled residents.

‘‘A lot of support is coming because of this [story],” said Del. Jim Hubbard (D-Dist. 23A) of Bowie.

‘‘This is just an awful tragedy, and clearly the state has a responsibility to step up and find the money,” said Del. Dereck Davis (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville. ‘‘I know what our fiscal picture looks like, but you simply can’t have this kind of thing.”

The state is facing a mounting deficit in the coming years, but Davis said Driver’s story might have the power make Oaks’ dental proposal a priority.

‘‘I’m hopeful it’ll be the impetus to be able to find this money,” Davis said.

U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) called the death a ‘‘national tragedy” during a speech on the Senate floor March 1.

Cardin and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) invoked Driver’s case again the following day when they introduced the Children’s Dental Health Improvement Act of 2007, authorizing $40 million for community health programs to expand services for low-income children.

‘‘It is not enough for the community, the state, or even the Senate to mourn Deamonte’s death,” Cardin said in his speech. ‘‘We must learn from this appalling failure of our broken health care system and we must fix it.”

Norris said a private funeral will be held this week. Donations for the family can be sent to the Public Justice Center, at 500 East Lexington St., Baltimore, MD 21202. Checks should be made payable to the Public Justice Center, and marked for the ‘‘Driver family.”

E-mail Judson Berger at jberger@gazette.net.