Tamika White, 19, Charged with Felony Neglect for Failing to Get Dental Care for her Daughter's Teeth

Tamika S. White, 19, has been arrested and charged with felony neglect for failing to provide her child with needed dental care, which led to severe tooth decay. According to the Herald Tribune, citing a Palmetto Police Department report, her daughter, whose age was not listed, has suffered from tooth pain for more than a year. According to the report, White said she took the child to a dentist who told her the child had bottle mouth -- tooth decay common in infants and toddlers.

The police said that her Medicaid coverage would not pay for the treatment, and she refused to seek money for treatment through child-support payments from the child's father. She also did not seek another specialist who would accept Medicaid or any other treatments that would be covered, according to a report. Ms. White was in the Manatee County jail on Thursday without bail.

Herein lies the problem.... Who is the dentist that refused to provide service? Why hasn't that heartless person been revealed? Isn't this typical of the lack of services available to the low-income people in our society? If you don't have insurance you will have to pay dearly and when you have no means of paying, you will delay getting proper medical attention. What I find unconscionable is that this woman didn't get the money from her child's father to fix the problem.

While she was neglectful, this certainly doesn't rise to the level of felony neglect. Hello, isn't there a case pending right now in California where a 24-year old woman smothered her daughter to death and discarded her body on the side of the freeway like trash and hasn't been charged with murder, but manslaughter? If Tamika White was, in fact, a Caucasian and one with money, she would certainly not be faced with a felony neglect charge for failing to get dental care for her child. I suspect there are more people out there just like Tamika White. This speaks to the lack of a comprehensive health insurance for all Americans, not just those with the means to pay for such insurance.