Should an ill child die over money?

I saw this story last night on one of the websites I frequently visit. The poster's son has been diagnosed with a very rare form of brain cancer. There is only one hospital that can help the boy, Sloan-Kettering, in Manhattan. According to the father they have been doing a study with this treatment for the cancer (Neurocutaneous Melanosis with Leptomeningeal Melanoma), and it has shown a lot of promise. But, because it is a But, because it is a clinical trial, funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, insurance won't pay for it; no exceptions, not even in life or death situations.

The boy did qualify for the study in New York but because of the Medicaid/insurance issues he couldn't be transferred there. According to the father, Sloan was excited to have his son come up to the city for treatment, but changed their tune once they found out there were money issues. The treatment will cost $100,000, which the family does not have. So, since they have been denied the medical treatment they need by virtue of a lack of financial resources, they are seeking donations, hoping to get 100,000 to donate $1 each. According to the website they are about a third of the way there. I know I'm not going to miss the $10 I threw into the pot.

I'm not going to rush to judgment on the hospital's reasons, primarily because I haven't seen their side of the story. Also, I'm sure emotion is playing a part in the father's fact pattern. It could very well be the father is grasping at straws to save a doomed child and this is his last hope, whether it is realistic or not. Still, as the parent of two children, and growing up in a family where a child died before adulthood, I could easily put myself in his shoes.

From the various threads I read, this doesn't feel like a scam, it feels like a dad desperate to save his child. I don't know these people, nor do I need to. Their son has a rare form of brain cancer and due to circumstances beyond their control they cannot afford the $100K treatment that their insurance company wont pay for. My wife and I are lucky enough that we could sell our house or take out a loan to cover the cost, and worry about paying the credit card bills and keeping our house later, many are not.

You can argue that the real tragedy here is not the fact that this child is terminally ill, but that we live in a country where we have the resources, the money and the power to prevent such things from happening but choose sit back and count our money like Scrooge instead (which I did - zing). However, this isn't about politics, it's about a dying child. Even if all I did was pay to finance hope, so be it. If you feel like contributing the link is above. And if not, we all know somebody who has cancer or had a relative die of cancer -- maybe you can throw a few bucks at your favorite cancer charity instead.