Billionaire Elon Musk slammed Canada’s healthcare system after an Indian-origin man died following an eight-hour wait in a hospital emergency room. Musk quoted a post on X (formerly Twitter) noting that the man’s wife “was told she was being rude” after her husband passed away while waiting to be seen. He wrote, “When the government does medical care, it is about as good as the DMV,” comparing government-run healthcare to the often-criticized US Department of Motor Vehicles.
The man, 44-year-old Prashant Sreekumar, reportedly experienced severe chest pain at work and was taken to Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton. Despite repeated complaints of acute pain, he was asked to wait for over eight hours before treatment and died in the emergency room. Sreekumar was a father of three, and his father recalled him saying, “Papa, I cannot bear the pain.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded to the tragedy, stating that the Canadian government should take responsibility. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that Sreekumar was a Canadian citizen of Indian origin and expressed condolences, saying the consulate is assisting the family and coordinating with local authorities to understand the circumstances of his death.
