44-year-old woman dies when power is cut off

[imported_elp6n]

http://www.cnn.com

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house Tuesday.

Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened. (Watch as devastated husband and children tell their story)

Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of 5 and 20, had been off work since February with an illness and had fallen behind in her payments to Mercury, said Brenden Sheehan, a relative who provided a copy of the bill.

Relative says family warned company rep she needed machine
Six days before a Mercury Energy representative arrived Tuesday at the house to disconnect the electricity, she was $122 in arrears.

Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.

Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.

Spokesman says Mercury Energy 'simply unaware' of situation
Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family, and said the company was checking reports that it had been warned Muliaga needed power for the oxygen machine.

"We were simply unaware that loss of electricity to the household was putting a vulnerable customer at risk," he said.

"More than one" disconnection notice had been sent to Muliaga's address over a six- to seven-week period, he added.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said there were reports the family had been warned about the overdue account.

"The correct authority to investigate this and sort out the facts is the police," Mallard said, adding the government would expect "full accountability" if the company was found to be culpable.

[aphrodite4ever]

That is horrible!! I hate to even think of stuff like this happening.

[PVVikeFan]

WOW. That is hard to believe. TERRIBLE

[imported_elp6n]

Updated article:

Power firm denies wrongdoing in death
POSTED: 7:03 a.m. EDT, May 31, 2007

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A New Zealand utility company that cut off power to the home of a woman connected to an electric oxygen pump, leading to her death, has insisted it was not aware she was dependent on the machine.

The family of Folole Muliaga accused the company of calling them liars over the Tuesday incident, in which the 44-year-old mother of four died two hours after a contractor working for the utility, state-owned Mercury Energy, cut power to the house over an unpaid bill worth 168.40 New Zealand dollars (U.S.$123). (Full story)

Muliaga's family claim that she and her son told the technician she needed the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it.

But Mercury Energy and its parent company, Mighty River Power, insisted Thursday they were never told that Muliaga depended on the electricity supply for her oxygen machine.

Meanwhile, the Counties-Manukau District Health Board, which issued Muliaga with the oxygen machine after her recent hospital admission, expressed surprise that she was so reliant on the machine that disconnection may have caused her death.

Chief medical officer Dr. Don Mackie told Radio New Zealand that Muliaga would not have been sent home if she needed the machine to keep her alive.

"People who are on this are capable of breathing for themselves ... That is why we are surprised that she deteriorated and tragically died so soon after the support was withdrawn, and we need to understand more about that," he said.

Mercury Energy defended its actions in a letter released Thursday.

"At no time was the issue of Mrs. Muliaga's medical condition or her reliance on medical equipment made known to the electrical contractor. He did note that she had a medical tube in her nose but this was not connected to any equipment," the letter said.

In any event, the contractor could not have been expected "to be able to make medical decisions," Mighty River's Chief Executive Doug Heffernan told reporters, adding that the company was awaiting the results of a police investigation.

The contracting firm that cut off the electricity to Muliaga's home, VirCom EMS, said it had been consulting lawyers, and that the staff member involved had been sent on leave, according to a report by the NewstalkZB radio network.

New Zealand's Gas and Electricity complaints commissioner, Judi Jones, said that while the circumstances of the case were still unclear, Mercury Energy could be held responsible for the contractor's actions.

Family spokesman Brenden Sheehan called Mercury Energy's denials "repulsive" and said the family felt the company was calling them liars for disputing its version of events.

Sheehan said Muliaga's breathing grew worse in the two hours after the power was disconnected and she was "basically dead" when the ambulance arrived.

Police and the local coroner have each launched investigations into the cause of the woman's death.

[aphrodite4ever]

The power at my mamaws was off during her last week of life and she was also dependant on her oxygen but we managed to rig up the tank that filled up her portable oxygen in her room to put oxygen through a tube until the power was restored. We were terrified that we were going to lose her. One of the neighbors had cut a tree that fell through the power lines. Where she was a hospice patient we couldnt take her to the hospital either. The whole ordeal was terrifying