How do you like that? Only at Kaiser can you kill two babies and endanger countless others, only to be handed $2 million of member money to quietly resign. The pattern should be glaringly obvious by now. Kaiser always tries to lie and buy its way out of a scandal, and only does the right thing when its malfeasance becomes a media event. Note that even after Safari turned down the settlement, Kaiser still would have declined to suspend him if only CMS hadn’t rejected the first plan of correction (pdf).
From the Fresno Bee:
Kaiser doctor rejected a deal
Hospital offered beleaguered Safari $2 million to resign.
By Tracy Correa
Three months before Kaiser Permanente suspended a Fresno physician at the center of a state investigation into the deaths of two babies, the hospital offered him $2 million to resign.
Dr. Hamid Safari, who treated high-risk pregnancies, said he refused the Nov. 28 offer because he wanted to continue working and believes he has done nothing wrong.
“I have spent my life to be a perinatologist and help patients, mothers and babies. The money was not my intention or my goal in life,” Safari said.
Kaiser officials acknowledged that they have discussed a settlement with Safari, but would not confirm the $2 million figure. The hospital suspended the doctor last week.
“We have considered many alternatives over time regarding Dr. Safari leaving the organization, including settlement, because we believed it was in everyone’s best interest,” Linda Monte, interim senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser’s Fresno hospital, said in a written statement.
The doctor and his lawyer, Stephen Schear, said Kaiser buckled under the pressure of bad publicity. They also criticized Kaiser for telling reporters about the suspension.
Schear said Safari was not interested in taking any amount of money in exchange for his career.
“Our counteroffer was to sit down and work things out so he could continue to treat patients at Kaiser Fresno,” he said.
Safari said a Kaiser representative showed up at his home about 5 p.m. on Feb. 29 and handed over a letter stating that he was suspended, effective immediately. He had been off that day for his deposition in a lawsuit filed by two Kaiser doctors who said they were retaliated against by hospital administration for questioning Safari’s competence.
The suspension followed months of criticism and public pressure on the doctor and Kaiser Permanente since details of the deaths — in 2004 and 2005 — became public late last year.
In September, the California Medical Board accused Safari of gross negligence — charges that could lead to loss of his California medical license. A hearing is pending.
In 2004, Safari waited more than three hours before performing a Caesarean section on a patient even though the baby was in distress, according to the accusation. The baby girl, who was deprived of oxygen, died 10 months later.
The other case occurred in 2005, when Safari allegedly severed the spinal cord of a baby boy, a twin, in what has been described by investigators in documents as a brutal delivery.
Medical staff and nurses have said they had raised questions about Safari’s competence but hospital administration failed to act.
Drs. Gilbert Moran and Robert Rusche are now suing Kaiser for retaliating against them after they complained about Safari.
Safari, in turn, accuses Moran — the former head of the OB/GYN department — and Rusche of complaining to the state medical board as part of a vendetta against him. He said they did so after he complained to superiors that one of the doctors was abusing his power on a quality review committee to go after doctors he didn’t like.
In January, federal health officials issued a critical 68-page report following an investigation into the situation. The report suggested that if Safari had been monitored more closely, the deaths might have been prevented.
Days later, Susan Ryan, the hospital’s then-top administrator, stepped down.
Schear said the bad publicity had become too much and Kaiser was determined to get rid of Safari. He also said that even though the doctor is suspended, he is collecting his Kaiser paycheck and is still entitled to due process, involving hearings and appeals, that can take months or years.
Schear said the $2 million settlement offer was an attempt to quickly disassociate the hospital from Safari and shortcut that process.
Schear provided The Bee a copy of a Nov. 28 letter from a Los Angeles law firm he said represented Kaiser. He blanked out all but one passage in the letter, which reads, “Kaiser will pay Dr. Safari $2 million, provided Dr. Safari complies with all conditions set forth herein.”
Schear said the letter also set forth conditions, including a confidentiality agreement and a pledge that Safari wouldn’t sue Kaiser.
“The essence was, you leave and we give you the money,” Schear said.
He said $2 million was a starting point and that the offer came “with indications they would pay him significantly more than that if he immediately resigned.”
Schear said he believes Kaiser moved to suspend Safari because it doesn’t think the medical board will end up revoking his license when all the facts come out.
“They just decided to throw him overboard,” Schear said.
Safari said he has performed well in recent months and that there have been no reports of any problems since 2005. He said his patient satisfaction rates are the highest they have ever been and only eight Kaiser patients have asked to be reassigned to another doctor.
“I think the action [suspension] was taken because he’s performing too well and building up a track record,” Schear said. “The longer he goes without problems, the harder it is to get rid of him.”
Safari now serves primarily as a consultant in high-risk births. Kaiser restricted Safari in July 2005 from performing vaginal deliveries and made the restrictions permanent in April 2007.
It would nice if thrived exposed would provide us with links that would get to Kaiser decision makers, so that we could express our outrage…..
Hi Quinton,
The standard format for email addresses at Kaiser is firstname.lastname@kp.org . If that doesn’t work try adding the middle initial first.mi.last@kp.org . I’ll try to put together a list of the higher ups at some future time.
Kaiser decision makers don’t give two hoots about member outrage, however. It is their explicit policy to ignore all complaints, emails and letters that are critical, and only to respond when they are required to do so by law. Those who do get a response will hear from an attorney who denies all responsibility and knowledge of wrongdoing. Complaints are never (and I do mean NEVER) addressed in good faith.
…and if those links don’t work, try this: first.X.last@kp.org
(since the middle name may not be known).
How much you want to bet that now it’s Safari suing Kaiser? What a ship of corrupt, friggin fools. Uh, he did it, No, they did it, it’s their fault, No, it’s his fault.
So many lies that they can’t keep em all straight.
I just really find it interesting that it is Kaiser who breeds this type of mentality and behaviour from safari, and then when it becomes public knowledge they try to quietly dispose of him. Wouldn’t want that reputation to suffer, now would they? Just do as we say and if people find out about it, you’re outta here.
And with all that money they keep shelling out to buy silence and “loyalty” think how many lives could have been saved.
I hope Kaiser is taking note of the Eliot Spitzer scandal.
You can’t get away with corrupt power forever. Eventually, it’ll sneak up and bite you in the behind. Kaiser’s time is comin.’
I have worked for Kaiser for several years and experienced the mafia mentality. I’ve been slandered and harassed since complaining about Kaiser. Anonymous on March 12, 15:08 is so right. All the evil destructive things Kaiser has done are coming to the light. The law of the universe: Reap what you sow.
My father has been in kaiser for over a year without improvement. What do i do to get him out and to raise a stink. i’ve talked to his doctors numerous times and they have told me the same thing….i do not want my father to die….please help.
Hi Megan,
Without knowing the circumstances it’s impossible to make any suggestions about what you might be able to do to help your father. It might be a good idea to speak to an attorney.
Good luck.
From personal experience, and from what I have seen elsewhere. I would not let any Iranian doctor to touch me. By and large, most of them, are ill trained, to which they cover up their incompetence by means of evasive behavior. (Seldom you will learn the truth from them about your condition).
A Urologist in N. CAL hospital, performed BPH on a patiant, ended up injuring his bladder during the surgey and for almost 8 months never told anyone.
A second opinion by another Iranian doctor couldn’t see the injury 4/5 inch (20mm) diameter in the patiants bladder.
After 8 months of continued pain, bleeding and infection, a 3rd Urologist (American) from another kaiser Hospital did discover the injury. There is a chance, this patient may endure a life time incontinence – all because the scumbag first doctor wanted to keep his reputation of “good doctor”.
He is being investigated by Medical Board of CA.
I think Kaiser should of fired Dr. Safari for what he has done to his patients that were under his care. There should be No Reason for a Mother to Loose her Child due to his Negligence. Kaiser should have replaced him Immediately. I myself was a former Patient of His, and after finding out what he has done, I Immediately switched Doctors, cause I didn’t want anyone like him ever touching me or consulting me. In fact, when he found out I was No longer his patient, he kept contacting me begging me to come back. He also lead me to believe he would be the one delievering my baby, that was before I knew what he had done. Kaiser do have some Excellent doctors, he was just a Very, Very Bad Seed there. People need to get there voices heard thru Kaiser and tell them we won’t put up with doctors such as Dr. Safari. Dr. Safari should Never Practice medicine Again and the Medical Board NEEDS to SUSPEND HIS License!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was a patient of Dr. Safari’s for the first six months of my pregnancy and thank GOD for it. After 8 miscariages and numerous doctors, he was the first one to discover a condition I have that was causing my miscarriages. Thanks to him, I have a healthy baby girl. The only reason we did not continue with him was my job moved us to a town outside of Kaisers network. I am sorry for the two mothers who lost thier children, but I will always be greatful to Dr. Safari for giving me mine.
The FresnoBee also reported that Dr. Safari was cleared of negligence charges in the infant deaths.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=FB&p_theme=fb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=Hamid%20AND%20Safari&s_dispstring=Hamid%20Safari%20AND%20date(=%22last)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0==%22last&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
I was a patient of Dr. Safari’s over ten years ago. I am glad, and not surprised, that the charges against him were cleared. From the moment I was assigned to him because of a high risk pregnancy, I was treated with care that went above and beyond anything I expected. I was high risk because I lost a triplet at the beginning of the esecond trimester. Dr. Safari was both professional and personable, took a sincere interest in my care….I was not just another Kaiser patient, I was his patient. When I went into labor, even though he wasn’t on call, he stayed and delivered my twins, something that is not generally done at Kaiser. I had complete faith in him and his team. All of my appointments, phone calls, and interactions with him were positive…it was clear that he was caring, knowledgable and highly skilled. Regardless of where he might be from (Iran, as stated in a previous response) I would choose to be his patient if I were still with Kaiser. In childbirth, sometimes the heartbreaking and unthinkable happens…sometimes it is from human error and sometimes an act of God. I am so sorry for the women who last their children….having lost a triplet and almost losing another child, I can (to some small degree) empathize. I don’t know what went on at Kaiser or in any of the other cases Dr. Safari was involved with, but I think the clearing of the charges speak for themselves. From my perspective he was a wonderful doctor and a real asset to the OB/GYN dept at Kaiser. I thank him for treating me and my family with such care and I wish him the very best in the future.
We also were fortunate to have Dr. Safari when my wife was going through her second difficult pregnancy. She needed to be hospitalized, and everyone at Kaiser, even the nurses, wanted her out of there…all except Dr. Safari. So when the day came for an urgent c-section of course I requested Dr. Safari do the surgery. My girl is an incredibly healthy, active 4 year-old. We took her home at 3 lbs. 15 oz.,and she fed right away and never had any complications. Thanks, Dr. Safari.
And by the way, I’m sure you all know by now that the California Medical Board completely cleared Dr. Safari. Wow, the press (and you guys) sure made him out to be a monster!