The Kaiser Papers Newsletter for May 2008 |  |
In This Issue:
Kaiser Found Complicit in CT Attorney General Lyme Disease Guideline Investigation by Miguel Perez-Lizano
Not All Medical Tests Are Equal by Sharon Rushford
Who are the pigs and who are the humans? by Vickie Travis
Medical Directives by Robyn Libitisky's mother- by Hillarie Levy
The Spoliation of Medical Records by Dr. Charles Phillips
Workers Compensation and Medical Care by Dina Padilla
Ms. Stein: “You are a Kaiser basher! by Jupirena Stein
Kaiser Found Complicit in CT Attorney General Lyme Disease Guideline Investigation by Miguel Perez-Lizano
Not All Medical Tests Are Equal by Sharon Rushford
Who are the pigs and who are the humans? by Vickie Travis
Medical Directives by Robyn Libitisky's mother- by Hillarie Levy
The Spoliation of Medical Records by Dr. Charles Phillips
Workers Compensation and Medical Care by Dina Padilla
Ms. Stein: “You are a Kaiser basher! by Jupirena Stein
Kaiser
Found Complicit in CT Attorney General Lyme Disease Guideline
Investigation For this
month’s newsletter I had intended to write on
something other than Lyme disease or Morgellons disease. However, there
is some
important breaking news that is worthy of comment.
On May 1, 2008, it was announced by the Connecticut Attorney General’s office that a settlement had been reached in the antitrust investigation of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in connection with their restrictive and exclusionary guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. The official press release can be found using the following link… http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2795&Q=414284 Of particular note are the comments in the last section titled “Additional Findings of Blumenthal’s Investigation.” In the interest of brevity I will quote only one… “In a step that the British
Medical Journal deemed “unusual,” the
IDSA included in its Lyme guidelines a statement calling them
“voluntary” with
“the ultimate determination of their application to be made
by the physician in
light of each patient’s individual circumstances.”
In fact, United
Healthcare,
Health Net, Blue Cross of California, Kaiser
Foundation Health Plan and other
insurers have used the guidelines as justification to deny reimbursement for
long-term antibiotic treatment.” The entire press release by the Connecticut Attorney General is worth reading. I am glad to see that
Kaiser has been officially mentioned as one
of the health plans using the IDSA Lyme guidelines exclusively as a
means to
deny expensive medical treatment. If you are going to
see a Kaiser doctor and are interested in the
Lyme disease issue, it would be interesting to note their reaction to a
printout of this press release. At Kaiser, Lyme disease has
been relegated to
infectious diseases
specialists. I would be interested
in knowing their responses. With your permission, I would pass these on to appropriate people, including the CT Attorney General. Your name can be blanked out or deleted but it would be helpful to have the name of the doctor to reduce the possible criticism that these comments are fabrications. My email address is given below. On a related note, a documentary film on Lyme disease, “Under Our Skin,” has just been released at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. I am told that the film has received standing ovations and is a candidate for the best documentary… Also, an important new
book on Lyme disease, “Cure Unknown,” is
about to be released. The author, Pamela
Weintraub, is a recognized science writer
and a victim of Lyme disease as well as her family. She has done years
of
investigative research for this book. I have not read the book but I am
certain
that it is a well done, professional and informative work… I
met Pam in the course of her investigation for this book.She
is well aware of Kaiser’s negligence in dealing with Lyme
disease and told me
she would try to have some chapters on West Coast Lyme disease and
Kaiser. I
gave her my Kaiser medical records and correspondence pertaining to
Lyme
disease. I know there were some problems with the original length of
the book
and I don’t know how much she was able to write on the West
Coast aspect.
Every library should have this book. A big thank-you to Attorney General Blumenthal for taking an important step to protect Lyme disease victims. Medical Directives  In past newsletters, and on Robynlibitsky.kaiserpapers.info,
readers have discovered not only must they pay close
attention to the
care you or a loved one receives at Kaiser, but also remain vigilant
regarding Medical Directives being followed.Briefly,
my daughter, Robyn Libitsky's death from cancer was made
even more tragic by the blatant disregard of her wishes in her Medical
Directive, also in violation of Probate codes by
Kaiser Hospitalist,
Shahab Attarchi MD. This physician ignored Robyn's
instructions in her
Medical Directive and requested her corneas for donation by an
unauthorized individual. The Medical Directive, in which she
spent
$1,000 to prepare by an Attorney, made specific her request not to be a
donor as well as designating individuals responsible for making these
decisions. Had the unauthorized individual given permission
for
Robyn's unsuitable corneas to be donated, the implications for the
recipient would have been deadly!
DMHC'
and Department of Business Housing and Transportation, (the
entity overseeing DMHC) indicated their jurisdiction does not extend to
the enforcement of the California Probate Act. Their letters,
located
in the above site, suggest the public utilize the expensive and time
consuming Probate Court System. Currently, hospitals, such as
Kaiser,
disregard these laws, for their own financial gain, as they are acutely
aware, options are limited to prosecute them. For this reason I have contacted
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber in an
attempt to include in 2009 legislation, extending DMHC jurisdiction to
include enforcement of California probate Codes 4733(a) and
4736.
This provision of the Probate Code, which always occurs in a
hospital
setting, including medical personnel adhering to Medical Directives and
organ donation, if violated, is extremely daunting for a patient's
family to seek help through the Probate Court System, as it is costly
and slow to act, further punishing the dying patient and their
family. Medical
Directives serve an important function in the organ
transplant arena and although expensive to obtain, most wish to ensure
their dying wishes are followed. Please contact Assemblywoman
Lieber's
Office (Arianna Smith) at 916-322-9900 and inform them of your support
in extending DMHC jurisdiction to include Probate Codes 4733(a) and
4736 as it will provide a more effective way to ensure compliance of
Medical Directives. Hillarie Levy may be reached at: Hillarie@kaiserpapers.info Workers
Compensation and medical care is a
debacle only
because the leadership of California deregulating
insurance
companies-self-insured corporations that reign over the workers
of this state and our country. Since 1989 after
being injured at Kaiser, I attended my
first legislative hearing on worker compensation. It was the
first WC
reform that would be the beginning to deny injured employees
their medical care and benefits. Stress claims and repetitive
injuries
were the targets and these injuries were climbing at a fast
and furious
rate. It was at
this time that Kaiser employees were starting to be
harassed, discriminated against, exposed to toxins and
then
purposely given far too many work responsibilities.
This was happening because Kaiser was not hiring new employees and those that were exposed to multiple working tasks and an unhealthy and unsafe work environment, were going out on a record number of workers comp claims with psych and multiple physical RSI's-Repetitive injuries. At the time
I was also a SEIU union steward and a Sacramento Central Labor
Council Executive Board member.
In 1993,
Gov.Pete Wilson who with
Willie Brown-the Speaker passed
another WC Reform
in lieu of passing the state budget.
QME'S-Qualified
Medical Examiners WHO BY INSURANCE COMPANIES, were
paid large sums of money to write false doctor
reports on the injured
workers. Subsequent reforms increased the amount of wc weekly
wages but
still those who had serious injuries were denied medical care
and
wages. This amounts to about 300,000 people per year IN the last
19
years and amounts to approximately 6
million citizens and taxpayers of
California who can no longer work. Many of these workers are receiving
Medicare and social security because insurance companies have illegally
cost shifted
the benefits paid for these workers to Medicare and
social
security and other public funded social programs. In 2004, Governor
Arnold
Schwarzenegger passed SB899 that completely eviscerated medical care,
the type of disability, total permanent disability and
vocational
rehabilitation. Not that many of these benefits were given to
those
who suffered the worst of their injuries since the early 90's. For years
after the first reform, injured workers had to hire
applicant attorneys to file their worker comp claims, thinking that
these attorneys would ensure them their benefits.
HAVE THE INJURED WORKERS BENEFITED WITH LEGAL COUNSEL? NO! Injured workers fared far worse with receiving about the same they do as today which is little to nothing for being totally permanently disabled. Worker's claims were low balled with the help of their attorneys resulting into pittances of their due compensation. With the passing of SB899 by Arnold and many Democrats, insurance companies were now denying medical care just because they could and that included injured workers who had claims prior to SB899-2005, legalizing what had been done illegally done for well over a decade.
Insurance
companies were given free reign over medical care, wages
and other benefits thanks to ARNOLD'S SB899 AND DEREGULATION. Injured
workers who had judicial ordered lifetime medical care were now being
denied their necessary life sustaining meds. One injured worker who's
work related botched neck injury was denied his anti- blood clotting
medicine
by an insurance carrier adjuster died, because of a blood clot
This is what he feared the most before he died. Workers
with back
injuries aren't sent to hospitals immediately or seldom are by
the
employers and insurance companies that deny their claims only
for their injuries to exacerbate. These injuries are not reported to OSHA. These same employers are self-insured companies and they are in complete control of THEIR injured workers claims. The less money they spend on an injury (under $200,000) for all, per year, then they get to keep their self insured status and certification, no penalties, no sanctions, no criminal charges for the deliberate injuries and criminal neglect for injuring workers. Workers
with RSI's and serious injuries are totally ignored
and
told that their pain is in all their heads but then they're
given,
NSAIDS, opiates, tranquilizers, antidepressants, anti psychotic drugs
and sleeping medications while their injuries worsen. AND most
of their
medical histories are used against them, either by not using the work
injury history as evidence or using their medical history from years
past to discredit their injuries and their good name; whichever
benefits the insurance company and the self-insured employer.
This is what
the injured have to look forward to if they are lucky to get to a
doctor.
Seriously
injured workers today receive "jack in the box" medical
care and are told to go back to work while their injuries are
worsening. Our
younger workers face insurmountable obstacles in receiving the right
care, much less other benefits. Fraud
and corruption are rampant by insurance companies and
self-insured employers. There have been many others besides myself who have attended State Safety and Health and workers compensation commission and legislative hearings, workers who have testified on their own behalf because they cannot get their medical care, or any justice in the worker comp courts. Judges
who are supposed to lean towards the side of the injured
tell injured workers they have NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS in the Worker
comp courts AND JUDGES WHO ARROGANTLY VIOLATE INJURED WORKERS RIGHTS IN
THE COURTS Like Judges Dugan, Volkan and Robinson and many others
while the whole WCAB
acts as it's own independent judicial branch with impunity
from any
other agency that is solely under the Governor 's office. But
the
governor's office will not make appointments with injured
workers or
addressing their grievous and legitimate complaints,
but then neither
do state senators, assembly members, federal
congressional and senators
for this state. Let us
not forget Presiding judges like Joel Harter who decides
how much of a worker comp file to give to the WCAB ethics
committee
for complaints of judicial misconduct OR State superior court
Judge
Kenneth Peterson who gives complaints of judicial misconduct to the
WCAB Ethics committee instead of the superior court judges to
investigate the judicial misconduct themselves.
Insurance
defense lawyers become worker comp judges and
commissioners who know how to destroy their cases and
claim all
the while violating injured workers
their due process. These defense
attorneys who get paid top dollar to help the self-insured employer
hide the toxins, the chemical exposures, the molds, the multiple
injuries caused by heavy workload and short staffing, the
setup of
workers with previous injuries, giving them jobs that will
cause
them permanent totally disabling injuries, those who will not
get the
medical care they need, nothing but medications that will
destroy
their body organs over time and eventually lead to their earlier then
expected demise. Myself
and others have been to the Fraud Assessment
Commission to
talk about fraud by employers and insurance companies, toxic chemical
exposure AND company CORRUPTION ONLY TO BE SHUT DOWN in
public
hearings by people like William Zachry who is not only the
FAC's
commission CHAIRPERSON but also THE Vice President for
SAFEWAY'S RISK MANAGEMENT. They
don't want to know about insurance fraud, because they wouldn't get
money from self-insured employers to justify their existence to
prosecute innocent workers. These workers are not only disabled but now are destitute, who have lost their homes because of no income, and not being able to take care of their families which results in a total destruction of family and financial resources. How many families have been destroyed. MILLIONS OF THEM. How many children's quality of life have been negatively altered during the hard times because an injured worker can no longer provide for their family. MILLIONS OF THEM! WILLIAM Zachery
started working as a supervisor in 1985 for the
California state's Self-Insurance Agency. WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS
A PROFOUND CONFLICT OF INTEREST by the state of
California. AND
HE'S BEEN
APPOINTED EACH YEAR FOR THE last 9
YEARS BY THE GOVERNORS OF THIS STATE
that lets self-insured employers arbitrarily and
illegally deny wc
benefits to their employees. The FAC receives about
22 million dollars
a year from self insured companies via the NICB-National Institute
Crime Bureau;a nonprofit organization for the insurance
companies to
pay for California's state fraud unit county District
Attorneys. This has purchased immunity. These district
attorneys persecute and prosecute
innocent injured workers for fraud and then get the state DOJ, paid for
by the taxpayers for more persecution and prosecution but DO NOT
prosecute self-insured employers like Lowe's, Kaiser, Safeway and
Adventist, SICF-State Compensation Insurance Fund for
fraud,corruption
and multiple abuses committed by the self-insured employer and
insurance companies. William
Zachry was appointed BY Insurance Commissioner Steve
Poizner on his new fraud task force. We have been to Steve Poizner's
office and met with him personally. He said he would
investigate our
claims of fraud and corruption. That was over a year and
half ago. One
injured worker who had proof of blatant self-insurer fraud
committed by
it's staff was told he did not have a case, but yet another state
agency-FEHA-Fair Employment and Housing with the state
DOJ stated he
did! This injured worker is still waiting for that San Mateo
county
district attorney to file charges against Lowe's. Prior
to our visit Steve Poizner's and his staff, there
were
several of us who went under Garamendi's watch and we were told that
the insurance commissioner doesn't go after insurance companies, and
that QME's erases taped medical evaluation evidence. That is criminal
under the penal and insurance codes but no one prosecutes them.
The
supervisor D.A.Jeff Ritchard said that hidden taping was
illegal and carried heavier criminal charges then even the federal
government. Nothing has been done on our behalf about the abuses on
injured workers from the insurance companies by the Dept.of insurance
either under Garamendi or Steve Poizner. It is an agency that
does not
go after insurance companies for fraud, corruption or any other
criminal activity committed by insurance companies or self-insured
employers and the criminals they hire to commit these crimes.
When SB899
was enacted, the medical
care standard was given to
ACOEM-American College of Employment Medicine-home office in Elk Grove
Village, Il. and has about 6000 worldwide
international staff. ACOEM is
sponsored by industries such as DOW Chemical and
GLAXOSMITHKLINE- a
Germany based Pharmaceutical company. These doctors from all over have
set standards on injuries and pain. Pain is no longer considered a
limitation disability thanks to Arnold's SB899. ACOEM replaces
the
medical standards that benefit ONLY self-insured companies and
insurance companies, thanks to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
My latest
attempt was to go to Dan Lungren's Folsom Town Hall
meeting in last November. Steve
Sandi, Doug, Sandi and I told him and
his staff about Sandi son David being exposed to microorganisms,
fungus, bacteria-BIO germs! During the town hall meeting, Dan Lungren
said it was a state issue. We told him it wasn't Medicare
that pays for David's medical bills and not the insurance
company which
makes it a federal issue.
Because
Liberty Mutual (formerly
Golden Eagle) did not pay for her
sons' medical care and wages, Medicare has paid for over
330,000
of
medical bills and that social security pays for his wages-this is
totally borne on the taxpayers. This is illegal and criminal cost
shifting that happens to most injured workers who are
permanently
disabled.
I
asked Dan Lungren to commit himself to get a congressional
hearing to hear about worker comp fraud and corruption illegal and
criminal cost shifting to Medicare paid for by the taxpayers. I am
still waiting for those congressional hearings. After
that town hall meeting, it took several phone calls and
finally we (April Gottman and I) had a meeting (in early Dec-2007)
with Dan
Lungren's staff and told them about the
massive fraud and corruption,
the denial of medical care that leads to death-murder by insurance
carriers and their adjusters. That about 300,000 injured
workers have
to go on Medicare and social security because insurance
carriers do
not pay on their claims to injured workers. Insurance
companies and
self-insured companies like Kaiser, Safeway, Lowe's, Adventist, who
illegally cost shift their workers compensation insurance costs to
Medicare and social security. That Medicare and social security, the
IRS, know what is going on. That the federal Dept. of Justice , the GAO
and the OIG-Office of Inspector General has been notified of the fraud,
CORRUPTION AND OTHER EMPLOYER AND INSURANCE ABUSES ON INJURED WORKERS! His
office staff said they would investigate. April and I are still waiting
to hear from Dan Lungren's office. April
still waits since 2000 and going to Congressperson's Matsui's office
for her owed benefits. The workers of
this state and nationally are under siege with no
healthcare, the loss of wages, pensions, no justice, no constitutional
,
civil and and human rights AND the loss of the right
to life liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. Now
the last and most heinous of all employer crimes is the
BROWNFIELDS 2006-2008. Where A person Stuart Lichtor who is IRAD,IRG-AN
INSURANCE COMPANY ONTO HIMSELF, has been selling what appears to be
radioactive and other
military chemically filled sites to cities like Downey, California. On
that site is Kaiser, Downey Studios and other businesses.
Kaiser was
allowed to buy the 62 acre site for 13 million dollars, all
the time knowing that patients, employees, family members would be
exposed to radiation and other deadly toxins. But Kaiser has exposed
it's employees to many other unsafe and unhealthy conditions before,
all over the state, so what else is new? The privatized EPA and former military joint chief of staff are involved in the selling of these toxic lands across the state and other states. Privatized government doesn't work because the profits go to individuals, that are paid to operate by taxpayers. SEIU
who has failed to represent it's workers whether it be
overwork, understaffing, abusive management and very dangerous unsafe
working conditions. One of the kaiser workers tried to get to talk to
the Ca. SEIU President Sal Rosselli but he would not talk with her
about the Downey radiation and other toxic exposures!
Most
of us injured workers have lost the ability to work
and to provide for our families, are
totally disabled, lost homes, lost
our reputations and the loss of our dignity and
respect, all thanks to
legislators and government officials who have deregulated insurance
companies and other corporations and who have thrown their
constituents to the trash heap, all for their corporate
friends profit
margins and there is a dead man policy to finish the job for CEO
pension funds. The
federal government itself has become self-insured by creating
a workers compensation system for our soldiers, who lose their
limbs
and die while fighting in IRAG and other countries. Do they or their
families have just as hard of time getting their benefits. YES! THEY DO! You
can go to GOOGLE and search Dina Padilla and Lou Dobbs for a
letter I wrote to him and others about our soldiers on U.S.Government
worker's compensation. IT's a national travesty! People have
to awaken to what is going on around them and fight
for what is theirs and their families!or what they earned
throughout
their lifetimes! They have
to hold all of their leaders and government
officials to
hold their "leaders" accountable and responsible for the destruction of
workers on the job. We have
to hold our leadership responsible for corporations ,
including insurance companies and self-insured employers that destroy
California and American workers all for profit. PEOPLE
FIRST!
The
INSURANCE INDUSTRY IS WORTH TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND OUR
CONGRESS NEEDS TO HOLD HEARINGS TO GIVE US AND OUR FAMILIES
BACK OUR
DUE RIGHTS AND COMPENSATION!
Dina Padilla
Peace
& Freedom Party California Congressional
Candidate 3rd District House of Representatives
President of
VOICES-B.E.S.T. CA.CHAPTER
MCRC
dinapadillaforcongress.com
kaiserpapers.org Dina Padilla may be reached at: dina@comcast.net |   From
the desk of Jupirena Stein:I once was asked: Ms.
Stein: “You are a Kaiser basher! Why don’t you
write about the good
things Kaiser Permanente does for all the other patients and go on with
your life? ” I had to stop and think about what good things they do. The list is short when looking at the broad spectrum, when you view the overwhelming number of patients that are deceived, denied diagnosis, abused, denied medical care, are told that they are only suffering from stress or are depressed - well, the list just got shorter after thinking about all of that. What good do they do? Some people without serious illness do quite well. Kaiser documented that 90% of all patient complaints goes away all by itself with no medical treatment. Patients just don't realize that. Some people with serious illness also do receive adequate treatment, especially if Kaiser has received government funding for that particular ailment. Do they experiment on people with or without their knowledge? Yes they do. Without patient knowledge or permission. That is very wrong. The
righteous and ethical former United States General, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, then the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, wisely
wrote: “ Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Was General Eisenhower speaking directly or "bashing" the Nazi's when he made that statement? No. He
was alerting us all to demand fairness and justice for those specific
groups of victims. General Eisenhower was not talking about Kaiser
Permanente but his reference to something else, is exactly applicable
today in what is taking place in What Hitler did to the Jews, gays and gypsies, is exactly what Kaiser Permanente is doing to their patients. Those that refuse to pay attention because they want to believe that they are getting something for nothing or for very little, will only realize the truth of these words when it is too late for them. Those that are smart enough to see the light will avoid the situation at all costs, just as those that could flee the reign of terror that took place in Inhumane
and unethical as it was, fits perfectly into today's repulsive Kaiser
Permanente’s behavior /agenda towards thousands of their
injured
patients. I know that Kaiser Permanente kills, maims and does abuse some of their patients by using them in illegal and unscrupulous medical experimentation or for their physician’s personal gain towards getting medical board certification, capturing government contracts and fixing embarrassing problems by providing favors for government officials. And then, Kaiser will deny and lie about what they have done to you, hoping that people will forget after it has become public! Not so fast dear reader; not so fast Kaiser Permanente. We have laws for those people with no morality. We also have the responsibility as human beings, - to protect or to at least. - try to protect Kaiser Permanente's future victims. This means you. All
that is needed to become Kaiser’s next victim is to be
Kaiser’s patient and the only remedy is NOT being their
patient! When Kaiser Permanente selects you as their next victim, I believe, they do not do so because you are Mexican, or white, or black. Not because you are a woman or a man, nor because you are a Christian or a Jew, not even because you are an adult or a child. Their decision to use your body for whatever they see fit is based simply -in my opinion, because you are one of their patients and they can. You will not be discriminated against
and will be selected to be part of their crimes and you will never find
out about it You
could sue them and go through their corrupted and fraudulent mandatory
binding arbitration system but, this system is as well, a fraud and
will only work against the injured, the neglected or even the deceased
patient’s family. You could ask the Department of Managed Health Care, [DMHC] to investigate Kaiser's crimes for you, but they will not! They will protect Kaiser as far as it is humanly possible! They will lie to you, deceive you. You, Or
like prescribing medications that would help you get better if you have
an infection? To vaccinate us against diseases? To perform surgery on
you if you really need such surgery? Or to send you to a specialist
because if they don’t, you will die? Or could it be that you
mean, that
Kaiser Permanente fulfills their medical, ethical and legal obligation
to provide you with the right to medical care? Or perhaps you mean ALL
of the “other good things” that you or your
employers are actually
paying for? Do you see this as “the good things” that Kaiser does for their patients? If
the truth about Kaiser Permanente’s crimes that I write about
can not
be in any way of any advantage to protect your life (if you are
Kaiser’s patient,) simply stop reading my articles. Instead, Perhaps willing blindness and
uneducated deafness about your health and your life, -is all you need. For all others, please, get informed. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER !!! Ask
questions, read about Kaiser’s mandatory binding arbitration
system,
learn about the for-profit part of this corporation and more
importantly, leave while you can. But if that is not possible, at least DO NOT trust Kaiser Permanente blindly! As
for part two of the writer’s question, I am getting on with
my life. I
am making the public aware of what Kaiser has done, and is still
doing. Unfortunately, because of Kaiser medical care, I now
can't
breathe easily, my body has become deformed; I have peripheral
neuropathy which is very debilitating. I can no longer take
part in
any sports, dance or swim. I can't even lie down flat and
must now
sleep in a hospital bed because my vascular system has been modified by
one Kaiser Permanente owned, pompous, arrogant, one time dentist, Dr.
Timothy Wilfred Wild, that did become board certified at the cost of my
health. I am not asking for your pity. I am asking you to hear my words and to heed my warning. Jupirena Stein April, 2008 [This material was written as a response to a reader question and it is based on literally hundreds of paper documents in my possession, which leads to my raw opinion about Kaiser Permanente‘s cruel and unethical behavior against their innocent patients. Jupirena Stein may be contacted via e-mail at: JStein@kaiserpapers.info The Spoilation of Medical Records by Dr. Charles Phillips 
Did you have a chance to read about
medical record spoiliation today
- front page USA Today? One of the
two locations mentioned was Kaiser
Walnut Creek and a stillborn baby whose birthday will be celebrated
online for years to come. Mom and society is not willing to
forget.
The rage is compounding. The Internet may be the silicon soul
looking
for karma. Do you know where the buck stops if
Kaiser's arbitration system is
worse than it was under Engalla
v. Kaiser? It stops in Ross,
California - at your front
door. You are the one who
through oversight
provides the public a licensed physician's blessing - the white coat
seal - that the private legal system of Kaiser matches all the fairness
promised in its own Blue Ribbon Committee Report. [That
is the one that says medical records must go to both sides at the same
time from a fair source.]
And as I find my role to be one of those illuminating the fog of
managed care, I have no choice but to make your role is clear to the
public as I can. Today was also
the day where
Richard O'Banion - a patient who is in a wheel chair because of a
Kaiser second pneumovax 14 months after the first one and during
interferon treatment that was until then
working - found out at 10 AM that his lawyer had to make closing
arguments today in an arbitration case in Walnut
Creek. The only problem is that he does not
yet have his true medical record. Is
that okay in Ross?
But in a race to speed up the process - a misguided attempt
by the
Supreme Court of California ten
years ago (with your wife participating
against Kaiser) to try to be benevolent - the patient is
ruined. Time - rapid arbitration - is now the
enemy of the patient since the records are so ruined. Patients
cannot find experts because the records are never whole and HIM
certified. The "records"
come - after tampering - from the Kaiser Defense Counsel to the
Plaintiff Counsel. History
will view that in the same way that they might envision Enron
executives turning over financial records after the shredding
party.
Gag me with a proctoscope.
I am completely disgusted with this system masquerading as
some
form of justice. And I will see it toppled [legally and by
the
people] even if it means through some devious means my own
work as now
a law student becomes blocked. [The California Supreme Court
does
control the Bar Association and thus I am in some way at risk to
potential actions taken by your wife.] But I am 65
and am intolerant
of corruption in high places.
You need
to spend one day in Richard's wheel chair. You
need to experience "progressive neuropathy" for one
day while he enjoys the beauty of Ross, California - the society life.
All of your good work with seniors now will pale against the tatoo
of your public blessing of Kaiser arbitration year after year as
chairman of oversight.
I suppose the PO Box approach
you use for your mail seems safe and
tidy - society forced to encounter you in and as a box, the timing of
your choosing - at most only during post office hours. And
most people
even think you live in San Francisco - that official business address
sort of thing.
I live at 2216 E. Los Altos
Avenue in Fresno California - it is on
my medical license [thus online] as an address and in the phone
book.
What do you think about that? Someone might hurt
me? Or someone might
think I have nothing to hide about.
In contrast every Kaiser
physician quickly becomes anonymous to
his or her patients. And upon retirement - they all are made
to look
as if retiring "on the coast" or some similar lie. What they
are
retiring on - these for-profit-partners-for-life - is the
white coat crime of making money through the art
of withholding care and now wrecking the
medical chart thereafter.
Any one of them speaking honestly in court loses the $2 million valued
retirement - the money that is held in the Bahamas; it reverts to the
rest of Permanente. What a joke in California
justice. Now
Kaiser-fornia to most.
So go about your business in
life. Walk without neuropathy.
Certify that everything you oversee is honest, fair, and patient
centered. Wake up each morning and greet yourself in the
mirror. You
will be looking at where the buck stops.
Charles Phillips, MD
(NOTE: Dr. David Werdegar is the physician who is charged with overseeing the OIA. Every year the OIA report is reviewed by his committee and signed off as fine. He was the head of SF Public Health, then Outcomes, and now head of a large seniors organization (that gets Kaiser help). His wife was and is on the California Supreme Court. She voted for Engalla against Kaiser. I am sure they hoped to make it better. It is worse.) Dr. Phillips may be reached via e-mail at: CPhil49401@aol.com Who are the pigs and who are the humans?  The
reason that we have laws is to bring order to our world and to prevent
us from acting as barbarians. We have laws to protect the general population and to provide civil recourse for those that have been harmed by another. This system is also set up to protect the innocent, but it doesn't always work. We
also have laws to stop all of us from following our natural instincts
and taking matters into our own hands in such a manner as to bring
about personal justice or to just even things out. We have set up a legal system that is based upon a Constitution, a Bill of Rights and 26 Amendments and when followed does work pretty well - at least for the most part. We
did not intentionally set up a system such as was portrayed in the 1945
satirical allegory of Soviet totaliarianism - "Animal Farm"
by
George Orwell . But perhaps that is what has happened, and we have sat back and allowed it because after all - we are civilized. Our
laws are currently often no longer enforced, if inconvienant
to
those that have "other" aspirations. Our rights now sometimes appear to
be fewer than ever before - but they are still greater than when we
were ruled by England. For those that either have not
read "Animal Farm or do not remember it - very briefly I will attempt
to summarize: A group of overworked and undernourished farm animals staged a rebellion and took over their farm. They created a civilized system for purposes of mutual survival and propserity. They changed the name of the farm to Animal Farm. The pigs on the farm had learned to read and created a set of rules that they had named The Seven Commandments - The 7th Commandment read: "All animals are equal. " And all agreed that the rules were good. "Nobody stole,
nobody grumbled over his rations, the
quarrelling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared. Nobody shirked--or almost nobody. " And the farm became prosperous. And the pigs by cunning and deceit made sure that they got the most and the best of everything. And little by little, by wit and by trickery the pigs took over and after a period of time, the pigs distorted history to such a point that only a few animals were left who remembered the truth of how it all began and what was originally intended. One
day, a very old donkey, Benjamin, who was there in the beginning,
noticed that the Commandments were different than before, and when he
looked closely he found that the only words remaining were: "All animals are equal. - but some animals are more equal than others" - "After that it did not seem strange when the next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters." Low rations, long working hours and little in the way of pampering was the new norm on Animal Farm. Just as it was before, when controlled by the humans. Everything but the very life was squeezed out of the animals now to make a profit. A profit for the pigs. By
this time the pigs had become friends with the long hated humans, and
both
the pigs and the humans took advantage of and cheated each other. In the end it was impossible to tell the pigs from the humans. And the animals ended up with fewer rights than they had before their rebellion. Today in our society I am not yet sure who are the pigs and who are the humans. I do know that we have laws for a good purpose, and in the case of laws in place to protect human rights, human lives, and laws set in place for the protection of patients it would be very, very nice if for a change they were followed by more than the truly civilized portion of our society; those that have little in the way of enforcement power. The ones that are being harmed and who have fewer and fewer rights, rather than the ones that are only concerned about how they will profit by ignoring the law when they should be enforcing it. Vickie Travis may be contacted via e-mail at: vickie@kaiserpapers.info Not All Medical Tests Are Equal By Sharon Rushford
Lets say your car has a maintenance program where anything will be fixed for $20 at the dealership where you bought the car. You take your car in every six months for diagnostics. Nothing is ever found to be wrong with your car but after a few years a major engine problem occurs due to a perfectly preventable problem. Now you need a whole new engine when the dealership could have just replaced a gasket a couple of years ago and prevented this whole problem. Let’s say the cost of the engine replacement is $2000 and the cost to replace a gasket is $200. If the dealership does not find the 1000 cars who need the gasket replaced they save $200,000. Then when 1 car actually breaks down, the dealership says the engine died because the owner probably failed to keep sufficient levels of oil in the car, thereby refusing to provide a new engine as agreed. If it is blatantly obvious they might pay the $2000 for a new engine if the customer can prove that the gasket was what caused the engine to die (an expensive process,proof). Now pretend you have an illness. You go to your HMO for diagnostics several times because you are experiencing symptoms or maybe it’s just preventative testing. Your HMO uses diagnostics that do not identify your illness. By the time your illness is ravaging your body, any simple test will pick it up, but now it’s end stage. Now it’s too late to provide much treatment and besides you have gone elsewhere for your healthcare because you now see your HMO for what it is. Now multiply this happening to say 1% of the insured population and see how much your HMO saves by not testing you with quality tests. They will say they did all “tests” to diagnose your illness, but what they won’t tell you is the tests they did would probably would not find your illness. They won’t tell you there are other better tests that would have.
So beware the “all clear” from Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser continually demonstrates a lack of compassion for our most vulnerable of people – the ailing. By making better choices when selecting a Health Care Provider and demanding universal health care where profit can not play a part in the equation can we finally start to hope for a better health care system in this country. “Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.” - Jane Goodall Sharon Rushford may be contacted at: © Kaiser Papers 2008 Reporoduction is granted upon the condition that individual authors are property credited and material is not taken out of context. |
