After
nearly 10 years a legal settlement with a protective order between the
patient, the family of the patient and Kaiser was reached. The
family is no longer at liberty to discuss the case. As a courtesy
to this family the patient name has been redacted from as much as
possible on this web site. At one time this patient had several
web pages on The Kaiser Papers. Today they are being placed into
one page so the public can become aware of the tactics that can be
taken against patients to cause confusion and avoid responsibility for
damage done to patient's and their families. In the interest of
the public well being the contents of the events that took place and
other materials that have been on this site for nearly a decade will
remain - again with Kaiser Papers materials redaction of the patient
name. - July 2012 You may wish to check this.Day by day, one step closer
Family members help in mom's struggle with leukemia, brain damage
By EMILY BERG/Staff Writer
http://www.vvdailypress.com/
http://www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1055424685,55920,
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Day by day, one step closer
Family members help in mom's struggle with leukemia, brain damage
By EMILY BERG/Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE — "One step closer" was [redated name] motto as she battled
the pain of chemotherapy almost a year and a half ago.
Now, the wife and mother of two — as well as her family — is holding
fast to the motto as[redated name] fights to regain mobility she lost after becoming
comatose. That condition followed chemotherapy treatments to fight the
acute myeloid leukemia doctors diagnosed her with in February 2002.
[redated name]'s family said doctors from Kaiser Permanente in Fontana haven't
explained to them why the then 41-year-old Victorville woman suffered severe
brain damage following a week of the cancer treatment.
She gradually awoke from the coma, and the leukemia that attacks
the white blood cells is now in remission. [redated name]still can't walk or talk,
and her husband, [redated name], continues to fight to get her the rehabilitation
she needs.
Numerous Kaiser Permanente medical and administrative professionals
explained [redated name]'s situation to the family as it unfolded, said Jennifer
Resch-Silvestri, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente in Fontana.
[redated name] "continued to receive care through May of this year, at which
time she was appropriately referred for additional rehabilitation services,"
Resch-Silvestri said.
[redated name] said the services Kaiser Permanente referred them to
were in Loma Linda or Riverside. There is a waiting list for the services
in Loma Linda, and [redated name] has a difficult time riding in the car, which would
make Riverside too difficult, he said.
While many families face leukemia or brain damage, [redated name]'s family
is dealing with both — and it's been rough at times, they said.
"It's all you think about all day," said [redated name], [redated name]'s sister.
As her family and friends discussed the roller coaster ride of hospitals,
medical theories and lifestyle changes they've seen in the past year, [redated name]
laughed at their jokes and kicked a large therapy ball propping up her
feet.
The kicking and smiling, as well as some movement in her left arm,
are the hopeful signs of recovery that keep the family going. That, and
family humor, [redated name] said.
"We have very few serious moments," he said.
[redated name] has taken care of his wife full-time since she was released
from Casa Colina Hospital in Pomona in January. Family members and friends
say the 43-year-old Victorville man has hardly stepped out of the house
since then.
He spends the day making sure [redated name] has her medications, therapy and
smiles. Therapy includes standing in a standing frame, practicing range
of motion on her back and playing the old video game "Pong" with a band
around her head that responds to brain waves and facial movement.
"She has days when she is quite good at it," he said. "It's pretty
amazing."
[redated name] wonders what the future holds. His supervisors at Southern
California Edison managed to accrue almost 18 months of vacation time for
him through donations so he could be by [redated name]'s side.
"I just don't believe she'd be here today, if not for them (donating
the time)," [redated name] said.
[redated name] and [redated name]'s children said it's the little things they
miss the most.
[redated name], 16, said he misses his mom's voice.
[redated name], 13, said the year's events have totally altered
the family's lifestyle.
"Our life is changed," [redated name] said.
Do you want to help?
To help the [redated name] family, write to the [redated name],
c/o [redated name] [address removed], Victorville, CA 92392. For more information,
check out [address removed.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Following has been prepared for public viewing by Nick Moretta, the husband of
Debi Moretta who desperately needs assistance. Here is his public plea for HELP!
SHAME ON YOU KAISER AND PERMANENTE FOR HAVING DONE THIS TO DEBI!!
To Letters | To Photographs | To PDF Attachments
To:
Department of Managed Health
Care
California HMO Help Center
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento,
CA 95814-2725
888-HMO-2219
The Joint Commission
One
Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL
60181
800-994-6610
CC:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State
Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841
Office of the
Patient Advocate
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA
95814
916-324-6407
California Consumer Health Care Council
P.O. Box
590307
San Francisco CA 94159-0307
415-666-0757
Consumers Union
1535
Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
94103
415-431-6747
Board of Registered Nursing
P.O.
Box 944210
Sacramento, CA
94244-2100
916-322-3350
Gloria Allred (Legal
Expert)
Michael Moore (Film Producer)
Christina Gonzalez (Fox 11 News)
Jia-Rui Chong (Los Angeles Times)
Charles Phillips M.D . (Medical
Expert)
John Metz (Consumer Health Care
Expert)
Vickie Travis (KaiserPapers.org)
To Whom It May
Concern:
My name is [redacted name], and based on our prior experiences, I
seriously doubt the
"Department of Managed Health Care" and or "The Joint
Commission" will do
anything to help us. It's my belief these two departments
are either working with
or have absolutely no control over Kaiser Permanente and
therefore such complaints
are pointless. That being said, this letter will
serve as evidence.
Our background:
In February 2002, my
wife, [redacted name] drove herself to Kaiser Permanente
and was eventually
diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. Unfortunately [redacted name] contracted
bacterial
meningitis during her hospitalization which went undiagnosed and resulted
in a
life altering brain injury. Afterwards Kaiser claimed that [redacted name]'s injury was
the
result of a highly unlikely toxic reaction. I've turned to the DMHC for
help several
times since then, but to this day Kaiser has never been held
accountable for anything.
For additional information regarding [redacted name] diagnoses
and treatment, please contact
"Charles Phillips M.D. (559)
322-1446".
In December 2002,
Kaiser claimed our rehabilitation benefits were exhausted and I
was forced to
bring [redacted name] home to care for her myself. Not long afterwards, Kaiser
claimed
that [redacted name] was custodial and refused to provide any home care. Again the
DMHC
did nothing. See [redacted website]
Our most resent problem:
On June 23rd, 2006,
I drove [redacted name] to the emergency room for what I believed was a
urinary tract
infection. It was later determined that [redacted name] had pneumonia. This
condition
would have been detected much sooner by a home health professional,
but because
I lacked the skills necessary to recognize her symptoms, [redacted name] likely
went
without treatment for weeks, which resulted in "loculated fluid" around her left
lung and required surgery.
[redacted name] spent the following 5 weeks in the
hospital, under the care of the very same
nurses station that I believe is
responsible for her brain injury in the first place.
During this time at least
one of [redacted name]'s nurses falsified documents, stating that
medications were given
when clearly they were not. I brought this to the attention
of two separate
Kaiser supervisors, both of which promised to investigate my
complaint and get
back to me. Unfortunately they both responded by telling me
the results of
their investigations were inconclusive. See attached.
That being the
case, I filed a formal complaint with Kaiser's "Member Services
Department".
After waiting the allotted 30 days, Kaiser responded by saying
the "results
cannot be disclosed". See attached.
Our
current situation:
I believe that Kaiser is the HMO equivalent to
Enron. They do what they want without
any regard for patient rights. As for
filing complaints within their system, it's nothing
but a big waste of time, as
they control Member Services, the Grievance Process
and even the Ombudsman. It
may look good on paper, but patients literally have no
place to turn for help.
So here again, Kaiser clearly stated on two separate occasions that the
results of
their investigations were inconclusive. The fact that they are now
refusing to disclose
the results should not be tolerated. As I mentioned above,
such complaints are
pointless if nobody is held accountable. Clearly falsifying
medical documents is a
very serious offence, so allowing Kaiser to simply sweep
this under the carpet is
completely unacceptable. Therefore I'm asking the
"DMHC" and "The Joint
Commission" to stop letting Kaiser get away with these
injustices and force them
into disclosing their results. A prompt response
would be greatly appreciated.
See attached.
Thank
you,
[redacted names]
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
**********************************************************************************
Letter to "The
Joint Commission" July 30th, 2006:
To Whom It May Concern:
I found a full bag of "Vancomycin" hanging on my wife " [redacted name]'s"
IV tree
on (Thursday 7-20-06), while preparing to move her to the operating
room.
I immediately asked her nurse "Mario" what he knew about it. He said it
was
hanging there when he took over @ 7:00 A.M. He then showed me the bag that
he had given to [redacted name] @ 1:00 P.M. He also said that he had looked at the
med
sheet to see who had hung it, but all of [redacted name]'s meds were signed as if
they had
been given. From there he went to the refrigerator and found extra
bags of
Vancomycin with [redacted name]'s name on them.
At that point Mario and I walked
over to "Helen Newman's" office.
Helen is the Department Administrator, but was
unfortunately away from her
desk. From there I called "Linda Bodell". Linda is
Helen's supervisor, and
she told me to give the bag to "Martha" (The Charge
Nurse). She also
said she'd investigate the situation and get back to me.
A short time later I went back to Helen's office. I asked Helen for a
copy of the
med sheet, but she said they were in the middle of the investigation
and would
therefore not be willing to give me a copy. I then asked if all the
meds had been
signed for. She said that they had been, but that it was "not
uncommon" for a
nurse to sign the drugs off before they were actually
given. She then told
me to come back in the morning (Friday 7-21-06) and she'd
give me the results
of her investigation.
The following morning (Friday
7-21-06) I spoke with Helen Newman, but she said
they were still investigating
our Vancomycin mishap. She said they had one more
nurse to interview before she
could give me an answer. I asked her how many
Vancomycin bags were found in the
refrigerator with [redacted name]'s name on them, and
she said two. She also said it was
possible that the extra bags had been missing,
or placed on someone else's
refrigerator shelf and therefore the nurse(s) may have
requested replacement
bags from the pharmacy. Once again she told me that it
was "not uncommon" for
nurses to sign the med sheet before the drugs were actually
given.
I waited for Helen Newman's answer until (Thursday 7-27-06). At that
point I went
back to her office. Helen had the bag that I found on [redacted name]'s IV
tree in a plastic zip-lock
type bag. She told me that she had questioned all of [redacted name]'s nurses, but every one of
them claimed they had given [redacted name] her
Vancomycin. She also said she spoke to the
pharmacy, but was told they do not
keep records for Vancomycin. In other words, if
a nurse requested a replacement
bag from the pharmacy, the pharmacy would simply
replace it without any type of
record showing the request or replacement. Once again
during our conversation,
Helen acknowledged telling me that it was "not uncommon"
for nurses to sign the
med sheet before the drugs were actually given.
At that point I thanked
Helen for her efforts, but felt it was necessary for me to file a
formal
complaint with "Member Services". I also told her that I was going to speak
with her supervisor "Linda Bodell" & contact "The Joint
Commission".
From there I met with Member Services "Laurie
Walsh" and filed a formal complaint.
Afterwards I called "Linda Bodell". I
told Linda what Helen had said with regards to
nurses signing for drugs before
they were actually given. I also told her I was going
to contact "The Joint
Commission". Linda said she would investigate the situation
herself and asked
me to wait until she had finished before calling "The Joint
Commission"…I
agreed.
The following day (Friday 7-28-06), Linda came to [redacted name]'s room
to give us the results
of her investigation. She said that all of [redacted name]'s nurses
had been questioned, but each
of them had said they gave [redacted name] her
Vancomycin. She also said that she contacted
the pharmacy, but was told that no
additional labels had been printed for [redacted name].
Therefore no replacement
Vancomycin had ever been ordered for her. As to Helen
Newman's comment
regarding nurses signing for drugs before they were actually given.
Linda said
that Helen denied ever telling me that. Linda did however acknowledge
that
there were extra bags, but said she did not know why.
Here's our dilemma: [redacted name] was scheduled to receive Vancomycin @ 1:00 P.M. &
1:00 A.M. daily for
treatment of "Staphylococcus Aureus". Given the fact that "Mario"
gave [redacted name] her
1:00 P.M. dose, there should have only been one bag left in the
refrigerator,
but "Helen Newman" said there were two. That coupled with the one
hanging on
her IV tree means there were two bags that Kaiser cannot account for.
As
part of the Vancomycin complaint, it's important to note that I found the bag on
(Thursday 7-20-06), yet the bag was spiked with tubing that was labeled in green
"Change by Tuesday". Given the fact that the tubing is only good for four days,
the
bag was clearly spiked with outdated tubing. It's also important to note
that the
tubing was not connected to [redacted name]'s IV. It looked as though someone had
hung it,
but forgot to finish the job. See attached photo.
My second
complaint is that during [redacted name]'s five-week stay at Kaiser Fontana, the
vast
majority of her nurses were not using the "Identi-Hide" labels. These labels
are supposed to be affixed over the top of the patient's IV label before
discarding.
I personally witnessed nearly all of [redacted name]'s nurses simply tossing
her infused IV bags
in the trash without using these labels. At one point I
actually removed a bag from
the trash and asked her nurse why she would throw it
away without covering [redacted name]'s
medical information. She said she had done it
because there were no labels in
her room. I asked her to please get some and
make sure they were used in the
future. It's important to note that I spoke to
both Linda Bodell & Helen Newman
about these labels and the nurse's failure
to use them. I also included it as part
of my complaint with Member
Services. See attached photo.
I'd also like to mention that [redacted name]
suffered a horrific brain injury resulting from
bacterial meningitis she
contracted while undergoing chemotherapy for acute
leukemia in March 2002. At
that time [redacted name] was under the care of the very same
nurses station that cannot
account of the extra Vancomycin we discovered.
Also "Sunil J Patel M.D." was
Debi's oncologist at that time. He is currently
serving a seven-year probation
period for the death of two patients, yet he is
also in charge of the Fontana
Kaiser Oncology Department…why?
As a side note, the Fontana Kaiser
Neonatal Ward was closed in March 2002
as a result of "Staphylococcus
Aureus". [redacted name] contracted bacterial meningitis
at the very same time. [Web address removed.]
Contact
information:
Linda J. Bodell, RN, MSN
Clinical
Director
Medical/Surgical Services
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA
92335
909-427-4156 |
Helen Newman, RN
Department
Administrator
Oncology
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA
92335
909-427-6158 |
Laurie Walsh
Member Services
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-5823 |
|
Please
help us get some more conclusive answers to these very troubling
questions.
Thank
you,
[redacted name]
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
|
|
Formal Complaint
To:
Department of Managed Health
Care
California HMO Help Center
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento,
CA 95814-2725
888-HMO-2219 |
The Joint Commission
One Renaissance
Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
800-994-6610 |
CC:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State
Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841 |
Office of the
Patient Advocate
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA
95814
916-324-6407 |
California Consumer Health Care Council
P.O. Box
590307
San Francisco CA 94159-0307
415-666-0757 |
Consumers
Union
1535 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
94103
415-431-6747 |
Board of Registered Nursing
P.O. Box
944210
Sacramento, CA 94244-2100
916-322-3350 |
Gloria Allred (Legal
Expert)
Michael Moore (Film Producer)
Christina Gonzalez (Fox 11 News)
Jia-Rui Chong (Los Angeles Times)
Charles Phillips M.D . (Medical
Expert)
John Metz (Consumer Health Care Expert)
Vickie Travis
(KaiserPapers.org) |
To Whom It May Concern:
On 7-27-06, my wife, [redacted name] was under the care
of a very competent and personable nurse named "Stephanie". I personally
witnessed her trying to save the life on an elderly woman just a few rooms
away. Unfortunately the woman didn't make it, but it certainly wasn't because
Stephanie didn't give a 100% of herself trying. At any rate, Stephanie and I
got along great, joking back and forth constantly.
By this time [redacted name]
had been in the hospital for nearly 5 weeks and I hadn't been home in several
days. Stephanie had joking told me many times that I needed a shower, so I
decided she was probably right. At that point I joking said, "since you're [redacted name]'s nurse, I'll go home and shower, but if she dies while I'm gone…I'll kick
you ass!" We both laughed and I went home. It's important to note that [redacted name]
seemed to be doing much better by then. In fact, she was discharged the
following day.
Before returning that evening, I called and spoke with Stephanie. We had a very
nice conversation, during which time she told me that her and her husband were
preparing to go on vacation, but I don't recall where. Anyway, by the time I
returned to the hospital her shift had ended and she had already gone home.
The following morning (7-28-06), I was talking to a discharge
planner. She told me that Stephanie had felt threatened by my "I'll kick you
ass!" statement. I was in shock! I explained to this person that her feeling
threatened made absolutely no sense, as we were clearly joking with each
other.
Later that same day (7-28-06), I was talking to "Linda
Bodell". I explained to Linda that Stephanie and I were just kidding around and
therefore I didn't understand why she felt threatened. Linda said, "That's not
what happened at all." She said that
"a supervisor had overheard Stephanie
telling a coworker about it." She went on to say that "Stephanie had called her
to complain about the supervisor blowing my statement out of proportion." Linda
also told me not to worry about it, as she had noted in the report that
Stephanie and I were only kidding around.
Either of the following
Kaiser employees can easily verify my above statement.
Linda J.
Bodell, RN, MSN
Clinical Director
Medical/Surgical Services
9961
Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-4156 |
Laurie Walsh
Member Services
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-5823 |
That being said, I received the attached in today's mail
(9-2-06). In light of the above in combination with recent complaints, I see
this as Kaiser's way of using something that was nothing more then two people
relieving a little stress, as a leverage point enabling them to walk away from
their responsibility for the horrific situation they've put us in. How many
more complaints must be filed before the "DMHC" and "The Joint Commission"
finally do something? Please do not allow Kaiser to get away with these
injustices!
Thank you once again,
[redacted name]
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
NOTE:
[Name Redacted] just informed me that the Medical Records are ready to
be picked up. - Vickie
Part 3 of "A Husband's Please for help" that is taking place in
Southern California. This is put online September 6, 2006.
No California Government Agency Seems Willing or Capable to Make Kaiser
Permanente adhere to the Law and Produce Patient Medical Records When
they are requested by the patient or family.
Department of Managed Health Care couldn't help [Name Redacted] . Office
of
The Patient Advocate couldn't either. The Joint Commission
apparently didn't bother because like DMHC, [Name Redacted] has yet to
receive a response from them even though the Office of the Patient
Advocate contacted DMHC about this.
Did we mention that a former Kaiser employee is running the Office of
the Patient Advocate?
Here is one method of getting your medical records though Kaiser still
does not always produce them in a timely manner with this method: http://www.harp.org/recordmethod.htm
Kaiser already knows what the law says as well as the government
agencies set in place to help patients.
This is Part 3 of "A Husband's Please
for help" that is taking place in Southern California. This
is
put online September 6, 2006.
Dear OPA,
With all due respect, your office was included in the recipient list as
part of our last two complaints. See: Kaiser Permanente, a
husband's cry for help! & Kaiser Permanente, a husband's cry
for help! (Part 2). Neither of these two complaints mentioned
anything about "acquiring copies of medical records" or "retaining an
attorney", which only reinforces my allegation that filing complaints
with our government is pointless!
That being said, I did call the DMHC several weeks ago to inquire about
the time frame Kaiser is allotted to provide medical records.
This was prompted after Kaiser told me they needed 60 days to fulfill
my request, but this was not a complaint, only an inquiry.
I've attached a letter that I sent to "The Joint Commission" following
that inquiry.
Prior to my latest two complaints, I sought the help of the DMHC on
several occasions in 2003. Each and every time they responded
by telling me that we needed to file grievances with Kaiser before
contacting them, yet in most cases we had already filed
grievances. I learned then that the DMHC didn't care about
our plight, and therefore stopped wasting my time with them.
Given the fact that nobody from the "DMHC" or "The Joint Commission"
has contacted us, the same is obviously still true today.
Sincerely,
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
On 9/6/06, Contact OPA <
contactopa@opa.ca.gov> wrote:
Dear Mr. [Name Redacted]
Thank you for contacting
the Office of the Patient Advocate regarding your current problems with
acquiring copies of your wife's medical records.
We contacted Department of
Managed Health Care (DMHC) to review what they advised you.
They directed you to file a grievance with Kaiser Member
Service s .
If your request is urgent you will need to request an urgent
grievance with
DMHC. The law
requires that you file a grievance with your
HMO member service first, unless its of urgent nature.
The HMO then has 30 days to respond. If they respond in less
time and you are unsatisfied with their response, then you can contact
DMHC's HMO Help Center at 1-888-466-2219 or go to their website to
download a complaint/grievance form to fill out and send to DMHC.
You indicated that you have
retained an attorney. This might be something your attorney
can acquire in a more timely process.
You may want to
contact one of our collaborates Disability Rights Legal Center
in Los Angeles at
1-213-736-1455 to inquire about their services.
They have a website at www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org. They
are an advocacy organization that may be able to provide you with some
legal assistance.
Additionally, the
Independent Living Centers might be able to offer you and your wife
assistance or future assistance. Offices in your immediate
area are:
San
Bernardino - Rolling
Start, Inc.(RSI)
570 West 4th Street, Suite 103, San Bernardino, CA 92401
Phone: (909) 884-2129
FAX: (909) 386-7446
TDD: (909) 884-7396 Fran
Bates, Executive Director Satellite
Centers
Victorville - Rolling
Start, Inc. (RSI)
15647 Village Dr., Suite A
Victorville, CA 92392
Phone/TDD: (760) 843-7959
Fax: (760) 241-8787 The
primary purpose of the Office of the Patient Advocate is to educate
consumers on their patient rights and responsibilities and to provide
jurisdictional resource information. Our office works in conjunction
with the Department of Managed Health Care, the state agency
responsible for licensing and regulating HMOs in the state of
California. If
you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact our
office.
Sincerely,
Office of the Patient Advocate
From: [Name Redacted] Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 1:11 PM To: Helpline; The Joint Commission Cc:
California Consumer Health Care Council; Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger; Michael Moore; Christina Gonzalez; Charles Phillips
M.D.; Vickie Travis; Gloria Allred; Contact OPA; Consumers Union; John
Metz; Board of Registered Nursing Subject:
Kaiser Permanente, a husband's cry for help!
To:
Department of Managed Health Care
California HMO Help Center
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814-2725
888-HMO-2219
The Joint Commission One Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 800-994-6610
CC:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841
Office of the Patient Advocate
980 Ninth Street, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-324-6407
California
Consumer Health Care Council
P.O. Box 590307
San Francisco CA 94159-0307 415-666-0757
Consumers Union
1535 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-431-6747 Board of
Registered Nursing
P.O. Box 944210
Sacramento, CA 94244-2100 916-322-3350
Gloria Allred (Legal Expert)
Michael Moore (Film Producer)
Christina Gonzalez (Fox 11 News)
Jia-Rui Chong (Los Angeles Times)
Charles Phillips M.D . (Medical Expert)
John Metz ( Consumer
Health Care Expert)
Vickie Travis (KaiserPapers.org)
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is [Name Redacted], and based on our prior experiences, I
seriously doubt the "Department of Managed Health Care" and or "The
Joint Commission" will do anything to help us. It's my belief
these two departments are either working with or have absolutely no
control over Kaiser Permanente and therefore such complaints are
pointless. That being said, this letter will serve as
evidence. Our background:
In February 2002, my wife, [Name Redacted] drove herself to Kaiser
Permanente and was eventually diagnosed with Acute Leukemia.
Unfortunately [Name Redacted] contracted bacterial meningitis during her
hospitalization which went undiagnosed and resulted in a life altering
brain injury. Afterwards Kaiser claimed that [Name Redacted]'s injury
was the result of a highly unlikely toxic reaction. I've
turned to the DMHC for help several times since then, but to this day
Kaiser has never been held accountable for anything. For
additional information regarding [Name Redacted] diagnoses and treatment, please
contact "Charles Phillips M.D. (559) 322-1446". In December 2002,
Kaiser claimed our rehabilitation benefits were exhausted and I was
forced to bring [Name Redacted] home to care for her myself. Not long
afterwards, Kaiser claimed that Debi was custodial and refused to
provide any home care. Again the DMHC did nothing.
See [Web link removed.]
Our most
resent problem: On June 23rd, 2006, I drove [Name Redacted] to the emergency room for what I believed was a urinary tract
infection. It was later determined that [Name Redacted] had
pneumonia. This condition would have been detected much
sooner by a home health professional, but because I lacked the skills
necessary to recognize her symptoms, [Name Redacted] likely went without treatment
for weeks, which resulted in "loculated fluid" around her left lung and
required surgery. [Name
Redacted] spent the following 5 weeks in the hospital, under the
care of the
very same nurses station that I believe is responsible for her brain
injury in the first place. During this time at least one
of [Name Redacted]'s nurses falsified documents, stating that
medications were given
when clearly they were not. I brought this to the attention
of two separate Kaiser supervisors, both of which promised to
investigate my complaint and get back to me. Unfortunately
they both responded by telling me the results of their investigations
were inconclusive. See attached.
That being the case, I filed a formal complaint with Kaiser's "Member
Services Department". After waiting the allotted 30 days,
Kaiser responded by saying the "results cannot be disclosed".
See attached. Our
current situation:
I believe that Kaiser is the HMO equivalent to Enron. They do
what they want without any regard for patient rights. As for
filing complaints within their system, it's nothing but a big waste of
time, as they control Member Services, the Grievance Process and even
the Ombudsman. It may look good on paper, but patients
literally have no place to turn for help.
So here again, Kaiser clearly stated on two separate occasions that the
results of their investigations were inconclusive. The fact
that they are now refusing to disclose the results should not be
tolerated. As I mentioned above, such complaints are
pointless if nobody is held accountable. Clearly falsifying
medical documents is a very serious offence, so allowing Kaiser to
simply sweep this under the carpet is completely
unacceptable. Therefore I'm asking the "DMHC" and "The Joint
Commission" to stop letting Kaiser get away with these injustices and
force them into disclosing their results. A prompt response
would be greatly appreciated. See attached.
Thank
you,
[Names Redacted]
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
**********************************************************************************
Letter to "The Joint
Commission" July 30th, 2006:
To Whom It May
Concern:
I found a full bag of "Vancomycin" hanging on my wife "[Name Redacted]'s"
IV tree on (Thursday 7-20-06), while preparing to move her to the
operating room. I immediately asked her nurse
"Mario" what he knew about it. He said it was
hanging there when he took over @ 7:00 A.M. He then
showed me the bag that he had given to [Name Redacted] @ 1:00
P.M. He also said that he had looked at the med
sheet to see who had hung it, but all of [Name Redacted]'s meds were signed as if
they had been given. From there he went to the
refrigerator and found extra bags of Vancomycin with [Name Redacted]'s name on
them.
At that point Mario and I walked over to "Helen Newman's"
office. Helen is the Department Administrator, but
was unfortunately away from her desk. From there I
called "Linda Bodell". Linda is Helen's supervisor,
and she told me to give the bag to "Martha" (The Charge
Nurse). She also said she'd investigate the
situation and get back to
me.
A short time later I went back to Helen's office. I
asked Helen for a copy of the med sheet, but she said they were in the
middle of the investigation and would therefore not be willing to give
me a copy. I then asked if all the meds had been
signed for. She said that they had been, but that it
was "not uncommon" for a nurse to sign the drugs off before they were
actually given. She then told me to come back in the
morning (Friday 7-21-06) and she'd give me the results of her
investigation.
The following morning (Friday 7-21-06) I spoke with Helen Newman, but
she said they were still investigating our Vancomycin
mishap. She said they had one more nurse to
interview before she could give me an answer. I
asked her how many Vancomycin bags were found in the refrigerator
with [Name Redacted]'s name on them, and she said
two. She also said
it was possible that the extra bags had been missing, or placed on
someone else's refrigerator shelf and therefore the nurse(s) may have
requested replacement bags from the pharmacy. Once
again she told me that it was "not uncommon" for nurses to sign the med
sheet before the drugs were actually
given.
I waited for Helen Newman's answer until (Thursday
7-27-06). At that point I went back to her
office. Helen had the bag that I found on Debi's IV
tree in a plastic zip-lock type bag. She told me
that she had questioned all of Debi's nurses, but every one of them
claimed they had given [Name Redacted] her Vancomycin. She also
said she spoke to the pharmacy, but was told they do not keep records
for Vancomycin. In other words, if a nurse requested
a replacement bag from the pharmacy, the pharmacy would simply replace
it without any type of record showing the request or
replacement. Once again during our conversation,
Helen acknowledged telling me that it was "not uncommon" for nurses to
sign the med sheet before the drugs were actually given.
At that point I thanked Helen for her efforts, but felt it was
necessary for me to file a formal complaint with "Member
Services". I also told her that I was going to speak
with her supervisor "Linda Bodell" & contact "The Joint
Commission".
From there I met with Member Services "Laurie Walsh" and filed a formal
complaint. Afterwards I called "Linda
Bodell". I told Linda what Helen had said with
regards to nurses signing for drugs before they were actually
given. I also told her I was going to contact "The
Joint Commission". Linda said she would investigate
the situation herself and asked me to wait until she had finished
before calling "The Joint Commission"…I
agreed.
The following day (Friday 7-28-06), Linda came to Debi's room to give
us the results of her investigation. She said that
all of [Name Redacted]'s nurses had been questioned, but each of them had said
they gave [Name Redacted] her Vancomycin. She also said that
she contacted the pharmacy, but was told that no additional labels had
been printed for [Name Redacted]. Therefore no replacement
Vancomycin had ever been ordered for her. As to
Helen Newman's comment regarding nurses signing for drugs before they
were actually given. Linda said that Helen denied
ever telling me that. Linda did however acknowledged
that there were extra bags, but said she did not know why.
Here's our dilemma: [Name Redacted] was scheduled to receive Vancomycin @ 1:00
P.M. & 1:00 A.M. daily for treatment of "Staphylococcus
Aureus". Given the fact that "Mario" gave [Name Redacted] her
1:00 P.M. dose, there should have only been one bag left in the
refrigerator, but "Helen Newman" said there were
two. That coupled with the one hanging on her IV
tree means there were two bags that Kaiser cannot account for.
As part of the Vancomycin complaint, it's important to note that I
found the bag on (Thursday 7-20-06), yet the bag was spiked with tubing
that was labeled in green "Change by Tuesday". Given
the fact that the tubing is only good for four days, the bag was
clearly spiked with outdated tubing. It's also
important to note that the tubing was not connected to [Name Redacted]'s
IV. It looked as though someone had hung it, but
forgot to finish the job. See attached
photo.
My second complaint is that during [Name Redacted]'s five-week
stay at Kaiser
Fontana, the vast majority of her nurses were not using the
"Identi-Hide" labels. These labels are supposed to
be affixed over the top of the patient's IV label before
discarding. I personally witnessed nearly all of [Name
Redacted]'s nurses simply tossing her infused IV bags in the trash
without
using these labels. At one point I actually removed
a bag from the trash and asked her nurse why she would throw it away
without covering [Name Redacted]'s medical
information. She
said she had done it because there were no labels in her
room. I asked her to please get some and make sure
they were used in the future. It's important to note
that I spoke to both Linda Bodell & Helen Newman about these
labels and the nurse's failure to use them. I also
included it as part of my complaint with Member
Services. See attached photo.
I'd also like to mention that [Name Redacted] suffered a horrific brain injury
resulting from bacterial meningitis she contracted while undergoing
chemotherapy for acute leukemia in March 2002. At
that time [Name Redacted] was under the care of the very same nurses station that
cannot account of the extra Vancomycin we
discovered. Also "Sunil J Patel M.D." was Debi's
oncologist at that time. He is currently serving a
seven-year probation period for the death of two patients, yet he is
also in charge of the Fontana Kaiser Oncology Department…why?
As a side note, the Fontana Kaiser Neonatal Ward was closed in March
2002 as a result of "Staphylococcus Aureus". [Name Redacted]
contracted bacterial meningitis at the very same
time.
Contact
information:
Linda J. Bodell, RN, MSN
Clinical Director
Medical/Surgical Services
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-4156
Helen Newman, RN
Department Administrator
Oncology
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-6158
Laurie Walsh
Member Services
9961 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
909-427-5823
Please help us get some more conclusive answers to these very troubling
questions.
Thank
you,
[Names Redacted]
Victorville, CA 92395
Home:
Cell:
Medical Number:
Email:
Web site:
KaiserPapers.org
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