[One of the more disturbing patterns that has emerged over four years of tracking Kaiser's many misdeeds, is that patients with very real and serious medical problems are often misdiagnosed with mental health issues, leading to much unnecessary suffering, and sometimes death. A few recent examples are the cases of Jupirena Stein, Craig Pozzi, and a woman with West Nile Virus, who was repeatedly told her symptoms were all in her head even after a positive blood test confirmed the infection. For the reason behind this troublesome trend, one need look no further than Kaiser's clinical practice guidelines, where Kaiser doctors are instructed to label anyone with an undiagnosed illness as a psych case.
Update 12/9/07: We have added a scan of A Secret of Behavioral Health Integration: The Handoff from "The Collected Papers of Nicholas A. Cummings, Volume I: The Value of Psychological Treatment." In it he describes the process by which Kaiser members are manipulated into accepting mental health treatment for physical illnesses.
The money quote (because it's always about the money at Kaiser):
"Without this seemingly simple touch, patient compliance was not very good, but with this idea of the handoff, compliance jumped to 90 percent. And the saving in medical costs was tremendous."
Cummings developed the Kaiser Behavioral Health Division.]
From the OC Register:
Kaiser to pay $1.8 million in malpractice case
45-year-old man was not diagnosed with cerebral bleeding and later suffered permanent brain damage.
BY COURTNEY PERKES
Kaiser Permanente will pay $1.8 million to the family of a man who suffered a brain aneurysm after his headache was wrongly attributed to grief.
In 2005, 45-year-old Ted Blackwell visited a Kaiser clinic in Orange County with a headache and neck pain. According to the binding arbitration document, doctors attributed his symptoms to grief over the death of his brother eight days earlier.
He received an injection and was sent home.
Blackwell returned to the clinic two days later, still in pain. According to the document, his daughter requested a CT scan because of her father’s disorientation but doctors decided that wasn’t necessary.
Two days later, Blackwell collapsed and underwent surgery at Hoag Hospital for bleeding in his brain. He suffered permanent brain damage and is unable to work, according to his attorney James McElroy of Del Mar.
Jim Anderson, a spokesman for Kaiser, expressed sympathy to Blackwell, but added “we thought differently in this or we wouldn’t have taken it to arbitration.”
The award, decided by arbitrator Robert Devich, covers pain and suffering and lost wages, but the bulk is for around-the-clock supervision for the rest of Blackwell’s life.
In California, malpractice judgments are capped at $250,000 for pain and suffering. Additional monetary damages result from loss of wages and need for ongoing care.
Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com
Kaiser Thrive Exposed would like to personally thank Dr. Geoff Galbraith - Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute board member; and Vice President, Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, Quality Improvement Management - for inspiring us to create this website. Did we make it into the top 5?
Well darn for kaiser, the poor man survived and now they are out 1.8 million instead of a measley little $250,000.
Jim Anderson, a spokesman for Kaiser, expressed sympathy to Blackwell, but added ?we thought differently in this or we wouldn?t have taken it to arbitration.?
Well of course they think differently, they are thinking with an evil brain.
Most decent people don’t think that way.
Well, well, well . . . surprise, surprise, surprise. I can’t tell you how many members of Encephalitis Global were sent home from the ER saying they had the flu when they actually had encephalitis. Some went back and got sent home again. Many of the few survivors of encephalitis are misdiagnosed and the residuals of the illness (permanent brain damage) is worse than if they had been diagnosed and treated right away. I think doctors should be required to take annual classes that update them in rare diseases so that they might really know what they’re doing.
The KP spokesman quote in that case was unreal…
“we thought differently in this or we wouldn?t have taken it to arbitration.”
#1 = you require arbitration. You didn’t take it to arbitration, the patient’s family was forced to.
#2 = you lost at arbitration. So your taking it there neither proved your point. In fact, it proved your point wrong, to the tune of almost $2 million.
If the quote you’re going to give is going to make you look like an ass, please just don’t give one.
Anon, I agree. Looks like they are running out of canned quotes because they really stooped that time.
I can’t say this enough because I am STILL amazed. Correct me if I am wrong but I thought healthcare providers and healthcare workers were in business to help people. Isn’t that their role in society??? Where and how did all of this profit/money talk come in to play? This is completely sick. What kind of a world do we live in when peoples lives are so heavily disregarded in favor of profit?
This is totally, completely, absolutely CRIMINAL. Completely sick. Can someone PLEASE enlighten me? How and why are they continuing to operate a “healthcare” organization such as this?
How about this:
“And the saving of lives was tremendous.”
Instead of this:
“And the saving in medical costs was tremendous.?
Well, let’s just stick a feather in their rotten hats!
Why are they still around?
Scammers gone corporate.
As large as Kaiser Permanente is you would think that enough people at kaiser would develop a conscience, put their foot down, refuse to treat their fellow human beings that way and WALK AWAY.
Souless.
Btw, did anyone see the movie The Insider?
It’s a movie about intentional harm, for profit.
For anyone who wants to take action:
http://www.healthcare-now.org/petition.php
Quote: “Stockpile your last billions, Kaiser Permanente, et. al. because the American people are mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore!”
After watching the agony a family member has been going through for the past couple years because of Kaiser’s obvious mistreatment, misdiagnosis, and the subsequent covering up of their horrible misconduct (”lost” records. etc) , its about time this came to public light…I cannot believe they are still in business either, as a “health maintenance organization” no less…its more like a “health mafia organization”….I am counting the days until I can get rid of that horrible “HMO”…if everyone dumped them on the next round of “open enrollment” I bet that would stop them …although the way they (& their legal allies) are set up, once you receive one of the “diagnoses”, they know they can keep you (and the $$ rolling in from you) because you will now be labeled as having a “pre-existing condition”…yea..what a racket!!! I too am surprised that any supposedly professional health workers at Kaiser with consciences continue to work there too….. horror story after kaiser horror story..and still they exist…amazing
I have repeatedly said, since our child was allowed to die at Kaiser, that the business model there is geared ONLY towards selling health care while finding ways to concurrently avoid actually delivering health care.
A fixed cost model does not like additional expenses and that IS Kaiser’s model. Profit is driven by providing sub-standard (ie inexpensive) care to members, thus maximizing the maintenance of revenue secured through membership fees.
Buyer Beware!! Kaiser is dangerous to your health; their practices can, literally!!, kill you–not a real positive endorsement for a hospital, is it?
Typical kaiser tactics…
http://www.weitzlux.com/...
Quote:
“Kaiser has been playing it both ways,” agreed Preston. “In one breath Kaiser tells the court that Dr. Perry committed malpractice. In the next breath they tell Dr. Perry that he gave my mother the care she needed. Their story changes according to who is in the audience and how they want to manipulate them.”
They go way back, don’t they?
And,
How many times have we heard this type of thing?:
Perry’s treatment of Utterback was initially central to the state’s case against Kaiser. The state referred extensively to the doctor’s actions and suggested that his treatment was lacking in various regards. In its first accusation against Kaiser, filed in May 2000, the state asserted that “Dr. Perry failed to follow even the simplest of standard [abdominal aneurysm] protocols, such as starting IVs and oxygen and/or administering pain medication to keep Utterback calm.”
deny, deny, deny…
deny diagnosis and treatment, deny medical records and deny claims.
California, it’s time to inform the Governor!
Send your kaiser stories:
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20071219-1448-bn19health.html
?We are a hop, skip and a jump away from making sure California has the best health care in the country,? he said.
SCARY. VERY SCARY!
Looks like CIGNA has joined the murder club!
Mark Gerago’s has got the right idea. It’s about time somebody sees the denials for what they are, MURDER.
“Their lawyer, Mark Geragos, says he will refer the case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges against the insurer, Cigna HealthCare.”
Yes, I was so glad to hear that on the news (about pressing for criminal charges against Cigna).
*I* still do not understand why the D.A. has not pressed criminal charges against the Kaiser Executives, and staff (doctors, nurses, etc) who were aware of the Kaiser ‘organ donor program’ ills.
“The Times reported that twice as many Kaiser patients died on the waiting list as received kidneys in 2005 because of delays in transferring medical records to the new program and other management issues.”
I think the patients, or families, of anyone on the organ donor list at the time should write the D.A. and press for criminal charges to be filed.
The potential of jail time may get the ’staff’ at Kaiser to awaken and either leave the sinister organization OR start whistleblowing to protect others.
To Anonymous,
Thanks for placing those links!! I *know* Kaiser has been planning on being the ‘provider’ for Universal Health Care.
It has been their plan for years (as was reported to me by one of the kaiser “physicians” who works in management).
Please everyone send a message to the Govenor about what Kaiser has done to you. If not, many more people will be sacrificed at the hands of this Pseudo-HMO.
Make no bones about it, the Govenor is looking to save money and Kaiser has shown they know how to save it— just don’t provide care.
However, it *is* the saving of money that will draw the government in to Kaiser’s web.
Scary is not a word to describe what will happen if Kaiser becomes the Universal Health Care for California….universal death camps would be applicable!
Yes, I agree! If the government draws in kaiser for universal “healthcare”, with my own personal horror story and all that I know about kaiser, I would say they would be an accomplice to murder, MANY murders.
Failure to act SHOULD BE A CRIME as well. I can’t stand that so many ignorant folks in charge are trying to force this on Americans. Awful, awful, awful. They need to get the same care at kaiser that all victims have received and they need to pay for their victimization out of their OWN pockets. Then we’ll see what their stance is. Wake Up.
Inhumane, careless, greedy… should I keep going?
Anonymous, that is a great idea (to have the govenor and congress receive their medical ‘care’, or lack there of, from Kaiser).
Kind of like Erin Brokovich requesting the Executives/Lawyers from PG&E drink a cup of water from the town of Hinkley that they denied was polluted with Chromium 6 from their company’s compressor station.
If Kaiser is not stopped and shut down, you are correct, their mass maiming and murdering will continue.
The *only* good thing I could think of that would occur if Kaiser remains open is that the psedo-physicians and uncaring staff who are currently ‘providing’ care there now will be ‘covered’ by that same insurance when they retire.
Then *they* will receive the same treatment that they have so soullessly provided to others:
a) refusal of appropriate medical treatment.
b) lack of any concern, or care, when having a medical condition (ie:being referred to psychiatry because they do not want to utilize any critical thinking skills, or spend the money, to figure out what is wrong.
c) the ex-kaiser “doctors” will be provided outdated medical care (here is it almost 2008 and Kaiser, as well as their “Physicians”, STILL do not follow the AACE guidelines outlined in 2001 to treat thyroid disorders!). How many of their patients are still going untreated and referred to psychiatry for a medical condition that is simple (and inexpensive) to treatl ?!!!!!!
How many other guidelines are they NOT up to date on? (i can tell you that their “OB-GYN” department, fertility clinics and ‘women’s health center’ are stocked with “Physicians” who care nothing about the patient, are unknowledgeable, and completely out of date with proper treatments/standards of care guidelines!
and lastly,
d) Those retired Kaiser workers will be left to suffer while their “doctor” rolls their eyes, tells them they are depressed, quotes outdated medical literature, offers an antidepressant and then tells them that “it is all in your head” and sends them on their way.
And maybe, after they leave their Kaiser doctor’s office, those ex-kaiser employees will keel over and die due to an undiagnosed medical issue.
Now the above would be what they say is KARMA!!!!!
Here’s a good one!
“A spokesman for Kaiser Permanente said its drop in malpractice filings was the result of a company program begun five years ago in which doctors apologized to patients for errors rather than wait to fight the accusations in court.”
Uh, that’s news to me. I didn’t get ONE single apology for kaiser’s negligence in the death of my Baby. What I got instead were vansishing medical records so they could cover their a*s.
Kaiser’s silly BS just never stops. Do they have the capacity to speak the truth, EVER?
They’ve got to make sure they “act” like they are on that doctor apology bandwagon instead of actually jumping on the doctor apology bandwagon. ABSURD.
I would say the drop in malpractice filings has more to do with the stepped up efforts in their “risk-management” department (ie, the “cover your a*s department”).
Can’t wait to see Arnold down there in medical/legal rifling through HIS medical records that were mysteriously “lost.” It’s a good thing he’s in a high place because otherwise there would be a snowballs chance in hell that he would get any kind of justice.
Kaiser “Doctors” apologize for the errors they make?!….Please, instead of being apologized to by one of the “Doctors” at Kaiser Campbell Office I was given a speech which included, ‘Kaiser Doctors are people first. True, we work for a large corporation but we are people too.’
The above speech (which i only wrote a very small part of) was given to me when I was in her office complaining of medical issues that they were refusing to address. I asked why the Kaiser Doctors refused to follow the AACE guidelines issued in 2001.
Instead of answering the question she tried to side track me with a speech on how she is a person.
If I wasn’t so darn sick because of what these Kaiser “Doctors” did to me I would have been laughing at her poorly rehearsed speech. Not to mention her lack of knowledge about the proper standard of care guidelines (which *I* had to bring in to her).
Kaiser “Doctors” people? The people I know do not lie, do not cover up mistakes, take responsibility for what they choose to do, they care about others and their quality of life, they try to help, and they do not maim or murder without any apparent remorse……
But then again, in defense of Dr Fetters who gave this speech (stuttering consistenly because she hadn’t practiced it enough after attending the ‘doctor training session’ on how to improve patient perceptions about “Kaiser Doctors”)……in her defense, I guess she is correct, I mean the reality is sociopaths and narcissists *are* people too…… so why not “Kaiser Doctors”?!
Yes, yes of course, Kaiser Narcissist Doctors are people too. Let’s just forget about all of the victims who have been left in the dust. Left to clean up the messes that that wonderful corporation called kaiser permanente has left them in.
Afterall, victims lives don’t matter.
Thanks for letting me know what I’m in for in the coming year. Due to financial circumstances, we are forced to take Kaiser as our medical provider. Maybe the only saving grace is that we are in the Northwest, so we’ll see if it’s any better than California.
My wife has a condition that there is no known cure for, but whose symptoms are treatable. We’ve already had word that several people in the area with her same condition have been told by Kaiser that they will not receive an official diagnosis of the condition. Why? Because then Kaiser will have to treat the symptoms which will last a lifetime.
One advantage that we have up here in the NW that you don’t have in CA is that we have the right to sue Kaiser and do not have to go through arbitration.
Secondly, we also have the availability of a really good med school, and my wife has had treatments there the past 15 months. The med school docs actually give a damn about their patients. Go figure.
anonymous, best of luck to you. Please just stay on your toes, demand the right tests and medical treatment and guard your medical records with your life! Get second and third opinions from Drs. OUTSIDE of the kaiser system otherwise you will be putting your lives at serious risk. In my own personal situation, we would have been MUCH better off without health “insurance” from kaiser since it gave us a false sense of security. No one did their job. They just treated us like a nuisance and sent us home so my Daughter could die. Then, they made sure that they destroyed the critical evidence. But guess what? I’m suing them anyway.
Anon Victim,
I am so happy to read that you are suing Kaiser. I plan to do the same when I get better…and hopefully I *will* get better.
Recently I pulled up pictures I have of myself prior to be ‘treated’ at Kaiser (happy and healthy). Compared them to the pictures I have *after* being ‘treated’ at Kaiser, what a difference. I wouldn’t even know it was the same person.
Those “doctors” lied to me. Lied in their documentation and killed who I was.
Why did I trust them? I still have no answer. I continuously went in and requested help for my medical issues and they kept telling me ‘it’s all in your head.’
After some time of being beaten down, negated and belittled and having them roll their eyes at me, I guess I started to believe them…that is, until I felt like if nothing was done I was going to die. I paid to go outside of the kaiser pseudo-physician network, but what they did to me really cannot be easily reversed, if at all.
ALL the Physicians outside of the Kaiser “Network” were disgusted and appalled at what those “people” chose to do to me. (so much for following the hippocratic oath to ‘do no harm.’).
I have a copy of one of the lists I brought in to “Dr” Fetters. I also got a copy of my chart. NO WHERE in her notes does she describe what I had reported to her (even though I presented her with documentation of what I was experiencing). I even complained of new and increasing symptoms and still she did not document them. Instead, she documented what *she* wanted to misrepresent to cover her own a– (i am assuming she chose to do this in case of a lawsuit).
Whoever stated that kaiser “doctors” are trained to lie in their documentation is correct.
Lie, Lie and deny is their motto.
And, *if* by chance they do have doctors that refuse to lie and deny, well then, heck, they will simply choose to ‘lose’ the chart. How convenient (for them that is!).
Kaiser Permanente will pay $1.8 million to the family of a man who suffered a brain aneurysm after his headache was wrongly attributed to grief.
yeah of COURSE they’ll PAY the guy so that he’ll keep quiet!! duuuuuhhhh..
no really now, this has to stop!
OF COURSE Kaiser pays the man so that he WON’T go and sue them and WON’T go out and make a SPEECH to EVERYONE who will listen..
Man if I got $1.8 million from someone who misdiagnosed me, I would speak about it, record it on video, come in contact with OTHER Kaiser victims and have THEM tell THEIR story and show proof,
THEN I’d go to a News Network (definitely not CNN though, they’re total liars..) and pay them enough money to play my video!!!
THEN I’d go and write a story about it and bring it to MANY if not ALL Magazine labels and pay THEM to put my story in..
so all of AMERICA would be ABLE to know!!
Cos this just CANNOT go on!!!
It doesn’t appear that Gov. Schwarenegger wants to do anything about the problem with mass maiming and killing in California. Here is an email that I received from the Gov.’s office this morning:
Thank you for your email to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Schwarzenegger appreciates hearing from constituents and the issues that matter to them. However, the issue you wrote about falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. In order to ensure that your concerns are properly addressed, you may wish to contact that office directly at:
The Honorable Steve Poizner
Insurance Commissioner
Department of Insurance
300 Capitol Mall, 15th Floor
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 492-3500
Useful information may also be found at the Department of Insurance’s home page at http://www.insurance.ca.gov.
Again, thank you for your email.
Office of Constituent Affairs
Good luck everyone. Wouldn’t it be grand if someone would step up to the plate for a change?
Yea, and how much do you want to bet that if you sent a letter to the Ca Insurance Commissioner you would receive a response back that reads:
Thank you for your email/letter to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. We appreciate hearing from constituents and the issues that matter to them. However, the issue you wrote about falls under the jurisdiction of the Ca Governors Office. In order to ensure…blah, blah, blah.
Isn’t it comforting to know that no one cares about your life? We’re all just another dollar sign to these wonderful folks.
Hey, here’s an idea…maybe every kaiser victim could all chip in equally and submit their own personal horror story to self-publish a book titled (ta-da) KAISERTHRIVE! We’ll all go on a book tour and be sure to visit all of the important DC offices while we’re at it. Oh, and we must not forget to visit all of George Halvorson’s book tour stops to reinforce his healthcare reform plans with our own personal kaiser horror stories.
Sadly, unless Arnold is ‘treated’ at a Kaiser Facility he will not listen. $ talks……
Please everyone on this site who has either been maimed or has had a family member, or friend, murdered by a Doctor at Kaiser, do a report on them at the below listed websites.
1) ratemd.com
2) healthgrades.com
Since the Medical Boards are not doing their jobs, we need to warn others!!
California Kaiser members… in addition to the horrible “care” that kaiser provides, you are also up against this…
(Quote from a California Dr.):
“Interestingly, in California there is a cap on pain and suffering for the family to the tune of $250,000. If my mother had lived, and been disabled, there would also have been economic damages to help care for her. In California, malpractice attorneys are not taking cases in which the patient dies, because they can’t make enough money. The malpractice insurance companies profits have gone up 30%. It is to the healthcare system’s advantage to let a patient who has been the victim of malpractice die. It is more cost effective. I believe this is allowing more negligent and sloppy healthcare. It’s very frightening.”
I suspect this is exactly why my Baby was left to die.
Buyer beware since kaiser has probably been contributing a ton of money to see to it that MICRA (the cap) does not change. A law enacted way back in 1975. How ridiculous is that?
That’s Kaiserfornia for you.
Don’t shoot the messenger-I worked as a Locums (temporary) doctor at a Kaiser facility recently for a 3 month block, which lost 5 doctors in a matter of 4 years, and it was more than enough time to realize that it was a BIG mistake. I can definitely understand why people get upset and frustrated at the sub-par care they receive-I can only tell how many numerous conversations/”intellectual” arguments I had with the physicians who sit on the authorization committee, to try to argue to get patients tests and specialists I felt that they needed, only to be told of their unrealistic expectations/idiotic reasons that the primary physician could care for in a 15 minute office visit and, that, in their “expert” opinion was not warranted. I hate to inform most of these doctors that are only certified as internal medicine physicians or family medicine physicians that they are no more of an expert than their colleagues that sit in the office, taking care of patients. It is very obvious that they are not astute when it comes to practice guidelines or current/recently published studies. These same physicians need to go back for some needed CME’s, so they don’t curtail the practice of us that care to deliver the best medical care we can. I am glad that I was able to leave and not commit myself to practicing “corporate” medicine like they would like-they believe that by using words as “capitated plan” that they can justify their lackluster and almost haphazard care for patients. Many of the doctors in their administration need to be reminded of why they initially became a doctor.
Hi Jaded,
Not only are they not astute when it comes to practice guidelines, but when the standards interfere with their profits and bonuses they deliberately lower the standards. Then they try to lobby the rest of the profession outside of Kaiser to accept their discount guidelines.
We would never shoot a messenger like yourself around here. Folks like you restore our faith in the medical profession. One of the biggest obstacles, however, is that the ethical, caring MDs out there won’t take on their greedy, morally bankrupt counterparts at Kaiser. Patients with complaints are often treated as disgruntled loons with a grudge and not taken seriously. Many if not most doctors outside of Kaiser know exactly what is going on and do not approve, but until y’all get the cajones to speak out against it as a group you will continue to see the ethics of your profession eroded, bit by bit, by this ethic-less, multi-billion dollar organization. Kaiser is trying to get to the new, young doctors who don’t know any better, and they are succeeding.
I am one of the younger physicians, who have recently graduated and I can tell you, it is hard to take on big name HMO’s like Kaiser when you see reports in local newspaper (like the one recently printed in The Baltimore Sun about Kaiser having the highest approval ratings by patients-I am not exactlly sure who they are interviewing to get this information since most of the patients I worked with were verbally and visibly unhappy). I will say, that since I have had an opportunity to work elsewhere, I was not able to be brainwashed by Kaiser because I have frame of reference of how medicine should be practiced and how Kaiser expects you to practice medicine. I guess the best way to take on Kaiser and similar HMO’s who practice this type of medicine is to educate the public, as a whole, because most good-willed physicians, that took their hippocratic oath seriously, would not bother to have their morals and work ethic compromised and be employed by such an organization. It’s no surprise how Kaiser treats it’s patients when they don’t really treat their staff well, especially ones that go against “the Grain”.
I don’t know about the Baltimore Sun report, but usually Kaiser self-reports the quality and patient satisfaction data. Can you say rigged?
I’m happy to hear there are still some idealists out there fighting for their patients. Please don’t ever change.
It has been almost 2 years since our daughter died, over a year since I figured out that Kaiser was hiding their mistakes (and falsifying medical records), almost a full year since I last worked (for Kaiser or anyone else) and the psychological and emotional toll of having them as our medical provider is truly almost beyond measure. To say that they ruined my life (or at least put a huge hole in it) is, sadly, not much of an exaggeration.
The “let them eat cake” attitude will continue until people, collectively, stop using them. The laws work in their favor and will continue because they have money and the people they hurt typically don’t.
It is all about money–I have so little respect for doctors and the medical establishment now. Scams with a license to print money. Not much more. They don’t deserve our respect any longer.
Andrew, I am sorry to hear about your loss and I don’t blame you for being upset with Kaiser, as I truly know, from experience, that they really don’t give damn about their patients or doctors that want to provide good care for them. I also know that when it comes to accepting responsibilty for their mistakes, the administration is great for trying to devert it as much as possible. I only hope that, one day, you’ll be able to realize that NOT all doctors are like the ones at Kaiser and there are many good ones out there. Unfortunately, you have the HMO world to blame for the cripled health care system to which the public has grown accustomed to (and should not have). Until the healthcare industry collapses, which is soon to happen if something doesn’t change, then all of us will have to deal with business mentality of medicine that Kaiser and other HMO’s deliver.
Dear Jaded,
I agree with you 100%. I went from a Dr. in Virginia who provided the best possible care to kaiser in Ca. who provided the worst possible “care”. My Dr. in Virginia had been my Dr. for years and I cannot imagine a more caring, honorable and decent human being. She delivered my first Daughter. My first Daughter is alive today because she was delivered in a timely manner right after I passed my due date. We made the life-altering mistake of moving to California so that Andy could take a contract position with Kaiser. I knew from the start of my “care” at kaiser that things there were not right. I had had the best Dr. to compare it to so I knew better. I continued on with the prenatal “care” at kaiser feeling unsettled but thinking it was just me being paranoid and nervous. What could possibly go wrong? I’ll tell you what went wrong. Once I reached my due date a Dr. tried to schedule me in for an induction that would have put me 15 days past my due date. The following morning I went in for my NST. Andy and I were kept there longer that morning but they didn’t say why. I asked if everything was ok and they said yes (more details at the happy brithday link on this site). We went in to Walnut Creek Labor and Delivery that night and were treated very rudely. I was sent home home and told not to come back unless I was bleeding or my water broke. Our Baby Lehna died in utero the very next day. This is what went wrong: We were not cared for. Our Baby was not cared for. No one at Kaiser cares. Bottom line. The “care” I received there was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum in the healthcare world. Kaiser is scamming the public. My experience with my Dr. in Virginia could not have been better and I have my oldest Daughter here today to prove it. My experience with kaiser could not have been worse and I do not have my Baby Lehna here today to prove it.
Instead of getting any answers we were left with more and more questions. Did kaiser intentionally let Lehna die to save money? I believe so. I also believe that the missing fetal heart monitor strip from the NST that kaiser claims to have “lost” holds the answers. Answers we will never have.
Had Lehna been born outside of the Kaiser system I believe she would be alive today.
Good Drs. know kaisers game. Kaiser = disaster
When the good Drs. get tired of cleaning up after kaiser and all of their many “mistakes” then I believe Kaiser will have a rude awakening waiting for them just around the next corner. Shams can’t last forever. The veil will come off.
Baby Lehna’s Mom,
I am so very sorry for your unnecessary loss.
It breaks my heart to read your posts.
You are correct…..*Good* Doctors know how bad the care at Kaiser is.
The hospital we had to bring my Aunt to (the same night she was just discharged from Kaiser Santa Theresa’s Death Camp) was absolutely disgusted with what they did.
Yes, the GOOD Doctors in this area (south bay) are fully aware of the type of “care” Kaiser and their “Doctors” provide….bottom of the barrel.
dear kaiser victim,
Yep and speaking of bottom of the barrel I spoke with a lawyer over a year ago in DC who is all too familiar with Kaiser and what they are about. His words exactly…”kaiser employs bottom of the barrel.” He also said “Kaiser hires Drs. that are barely credentialed.” He would have taken my case against kaiser but couldn’t since he was in DC and not in California. I spoke with another lawyer in DC who was real excited about going after kaiser for fraud, that is, until he learned of the crummy MICRA law in California.
Unfortunately since Kaiser basically owns Ca many Dr.s in Ca are afraid to speak out even though they are well aware. Some lawyers even in Ca are afraid to go against the kaiser mafia.
Oh and another thing… I was told by an insurance agent here in Georgia that he knows of a surgeon in Atlanta where 80% of his business comes from repairing kaiser catastrophies.
So here we have California, DC/Northern VA and Georgia.
I have lived in all three places and I have heard nothing but bad things about kaiser in all three locations. It’s quite obvious that their business model of witholding care and misdiagnosing illnesses is a nationwide epidemic.
Oh, and let’s not forget that Kaiser was run out of Texas and I believe, Kansas too.
Dear Baby Lehna’s Mom,
Being a Doctor ( not an OB), I hope you can accept my apology for what happened to your daughter under the care of Kaiser, but know that your oldest daughter is living proof of good doctors. Like I stated earlier, I worked there for 3 months, on a temporary assignment, and what a horrible mistake. I know that I will never work for a place like that again that compromises my ability to effectively treat patients and I WILL NEVER, nor will my family, have such lousy insurance. I would rather have no insurance and have a flex spending plan, if my choice was to have kaiser as insurance. Good luck to you and Andrew-you are in my thoughts.
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/healthcarepirates/
Baby Lehna’s Mom,
Yep, I know Kaiser has been kicked out of a couple states…..How LUCKY the people in those states are!!!
I spoke with a friend in Kentucky. We were talking about health insurance companies and I told her Kaiser is one of the major “HMOs” out here.
Her immediate response was that they (the people along with the government in Kentucky) got rid of Kaiser a bit back.
She stated she never heard any good stories about Kaiser and how they ‘treat’ people.
One day California citizens will awaken and get rid of Kaiser and its false claims to being a health care organization…..one day it will happen and Kaiser will be gone from California.
Let’s just hope it is done prior to them killing off more than half of the population…..
Kaiser *is* the Black Plague of the 21st Century!
Kaiser Victim,
I agree. The day the “black plague” is extinguished is the day Californians and all kaiser member/victims everywhere will be on the road to real wellness. I wonder why California refuses to accept what other states have long since realized. Well, we already know that in Ca our lives are worth no more than $250,000. They sure don’t value life much out west, do they?
Kaiser + MICRA = Your life has no value
(other than those empty premiums that we get suckered into paying for phony healthcare)
Pirates, they’re all pirates.
I have been with Kaiser for about 1 1/2 years. I can say in the last year they have come close to ruining my life. I have something wrong with my back and they will not find out what. I am in terrible pain, have been missing lots of work and am not bankrupt. Today my primary took away the pain meds so I may not be able to work at all. She will not put me on disability. The only test done had been an x-ray which only showed arthritis. No further test are being authorized. They dont’ even know what kink of arthritis I have. My hands and wrists are also swollen (badly swollen). I just can’t believe that they are getting away with treating people this way. I feel like it is just hopeless. I even begged my primary to find out what is wrong. I am being treated like I there is nouthing wrong with me. Bakerfield Kaiser and their doctor’s are creeps.
Sometimes the only thing you can do is seek a 2nd opinion outside of Kaiser and pay for it out of pocket. Then you can use the non-Kaiser doctor’s opinion in your grievance. If Kaiser still refuses to treat you after you appeal the denial, you can file a complaint and request a review from the DMHC.
Kaiser’s disrespect and disregard for patients and employees is ingrained in the culture of the organization, which makes the Thrive campaign all the more ludicrous.