7 years is nothing compared to the damage persistent medical debt can be. No not 10k, but people who get 75k from uninsured surgery and can't pay it off. Bankruptcy doesn't mean you can't buy stuff at all it just hurts it by 150~ points. With decent credit prior you'd still be around 600. If you have bad credit bankruptcy can actually increase your credit score.

Bankruptcy is a consumer benefit, not a penalty. If you can't pay your bills it's much better to go bankrupt than to go deeper and deeper in debt.