In this searing episode of The Angry Alan Show, Alan trains his fury on America’s medical-industrial complex—hospitals, health systems, insurers, and regulators who, in his words, turn negligence into a business model and then blame the patient. His guest, Reasa Selph shares the harrowing story of her 11-year-old son, Nicholas, whose near-death experience exposes just how dangerous that system can be when accountability disappears.
Reasa walks through the timeline: December 2023, Nicholas comes down with the flu and is taken to Methodist Southlake , a Texas medical center.
He’s given fluids, sent home, and briefly improves. Days later he crashes—lethargic, confused, unable to walk or even provide a urine sample—so the family returns to the same hospital they trust. Despite abnormal labs and a concerning EKG, they’re told it’s “just a virus” and sent home again, with no antibiotics, no sepsis workup, and no sense of urgency. On Christmas morning, Nicholas is jaundiced, gray, and barely responsive. Their pediatrician directs them to Cook Children’s, where a roomful of doctors swarms him within minutes and delivers the diagnosis Methodist missed: septic shock. Nicholas is intubated, vomits a pint of blood, undergoes repeated surgeries, and tells his mother he’s seen Jesus and is ready to die.
As Nicholas fights for his life and endures long-term complications, Reasa begins fighting the system. She discovers that Methodist’s own labs showed he was not okay on that second visit—and that federal regulators later cited the hospital for failures in care. Yet the doctor still practices, the hospital still bills, and regulators and boards deflect, delay, and hide behind confidentiality. Reasa describes the deep sense of betrayal, the crushing mom guilt of trusting the wrong people, and the realization that her case is not an outlier: Methodist, on a per-bed basis, is one of the most sued hospital systems in Texas, and many families are quietly paid to keep their stories out of sight.
Alan and Reasa dig into the bigger picture: malpractice as a “cost of doing business,” regulators who look the other way, and a culture that values image and billing over human life. Reasa outlines her push for "Nicholas’s Law”—requiring adult-focused ERs to clearly disclose when they’re not pediatric-capable—and a proposed sepsis protocol bill with real fines when hospitals fail to follow life-saving standards. They also discuss the need for political pressure, PACs, and a coordinated movement so families aren’t left to fight billion-dollar systems alone.
This episode is raw, emotional, and unapologetically angry. It’s not just about one boy or one family—it’s a warning to anyone who ever has to take a child to the ER and a call to action for transparency, accountability, and systemic change.
Reasa walks through the timeline: December 2023, Nicholas comes down with the flu and is taken to Methodist Southlake , a Texas medical center.
He’s given fluids, sent home, and briefly improves. Days later he crashes—lethargic, confused, unable to walk or even provide a urine sample—so the family returns to the same hospital they trust. Despite abnormal labs and a concerning EKG, they’re told it’s “just a virus” and sent home again, with no antibiotics, no sepsis workup, and no sense of urgency. On Christmas morning, Nicholas is jaundiced, gray, and barely responsive. Their pediatrician directs them to Cook Children’s, where a roomful of doctors swarms him within minutes and delivers the diagnosis Methodist missed: septic shock. Nicholas is intubated, vomits a pint of blood, undergoes repeated surgeries, and tells his mother he’s seen Jesus and is ready to die.
As Nicholas fights for his life and endures long-term complications, Reasa begins fighting the system. She discovers that Methodist’s own labs showed he was not okay on that second visit—and that federal regulators later cited the hospital for failures in care. Yet the doctor still practices, the hospital still bills, and regulators and boards deflect, delay, and hide behind confidentiality. Reasa describes the deep sense of betrayal, the crushing mom guilt of trusting the wrong people, and the realization that her case is not an outlier: Methodist, on a per-bed basis, is one of the most sued hospital systems in Texas, and many families are quietly paid to keep their stories out of sight.
Alan and Reasa dig into the bigger picture: malpractice as a “cost of doing business,” regulators who look the other way, and a culture that values image and billing over human life. Reasa outlines her push for "Nicholas’s Law”—requiring adult-focused ERs to clearly disclose when they’re not pediatric-capable—and a proposed sepsis protocol bill with real fines when hospitals fail to follow life-saving standards. They also discuss the need for political pressure, PACs, and a coordinated movement so families aren’t left to fight billion-dollar systems alone.
This episode is raw, emotional, and unapologetically angry. It’s not just about one boy or one family—it’s a warning to anyone who ever has to take a child to the ER and a call to action for transparency, accountability, and systemic change.