MIAMI, Jan 30 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The US military said on Friday it has stopped flying Haitian earthquake victims to the United States for medical attention following concerns by some state governments about who will pay for the treatment.
"At this moment in time, yes, the flights have stopped," said Navy Captain Kevin Aandahl, a spokesman for the US Transportation Command, which manages the military's medical emergency airlifts.
"We have to have a destination to bring them to," Aandahl said, citing media reports Florida had told the US government that the state needed help paying for the care.
"If Florida isn't taking them ... and I can't confirm this, but I think Georgia has made a similar statement, so if we can't bring them anywhere for treatment, then they're staying in Haiti."
He said the flights had stopped on Wednesday.
"The fact that medical flights aren't taking place does not mean that Haitians who need care aren't getting it," Aandahl added. "We have the medical facilities again on the island as well as offshore."
The New York Times quoted Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for Florida Governor Charlie Crist, as saying the governor's request for federal help might have caused "confusion."
"Florida stands ready to assist our neighbours in Haiti, but we need a plan of action and reimbursement for the care we are providing," Ivey said, according to the Times.
Crist's request did not state how much the medical care for the earthquake victims was costing his state but the Times reported the cost could be in the millions of dollars.
The newspaper quoted Dr. Barth Green, co-founder of Project Medishare for Haiti, a nonprofit group tied to the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, as saying the suspension of medical evacuations could be very harmful for patients.
"People are dying in Haiti because they can't get out," Green told the Times.
More than 500 quake victims had been treated in Florida hospitals, with hospitals in other states also having taken in injured Haitians, according to the Times.
The devastating quake in the impoverished Caribbean country on January 12 killed up to 200,000 people.
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