March 5

On this day, in 1991,  Montana Senator Ted Mendenhall, was rushed to Washington D.C.'s Medstar Hospital by Medevac, after having called 911 to say he was experiencing a heart attack. He was given a private room and a team of doctors and nurses were exclusively assigned to him. A series of tests revealed that Mendenhall was in perfect health, and simply experiencing a bout of indigestion after having eaten an especially rich curry at a Georgetown Punjabi restaurant. Mendenhall was kept overnight for observation, and was well enough, two days later, to introduce a bill on the Senate floor. The bill, which was passed by an overwhelming majority, put into motion sweeping cuts to Medicaid coverage for low-income families, eliminating a long list of procedures and treatments which were deemed to be "frivolous."