[kaiserthrive.org editor’s note: Kaiser ALWAYS “loses” records when there is a problem. In fact, we’ve never heard of one single case of a dispute with Kaiser in which the incriminating evidence wasn’t “lost,” and/or the documentation falsified. Since Kaiser controls all of the evidence, this in combo with its rigged arbitration system is how it avoids liability for negligence and malpractice.]
By Beth Stover
In December of 2005 I began prenatal care with Kaiser since my partner had become a full-time employee of Kaiser the previous month. We were elated to discover, even at month 7 of my pregnancy, that Kaiser would pay for the birth of our child. When I told our non-Kaiser Ob/Gyn that we would be switching to Kaiser “care” she asked, “Are you sure you want to do that?” Now I know why. Up until that point, I had no prior experience with Kaiser. I had always had a very good (non Kaiser) Ob/Gyn that was really on the ball. At 40, I was feeling great and was so excited about my new little Bundle that I felt was my 40th birthday present!
My first meeting with a Kasier Ob/Gyn left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The Ob/Gyn took a look at the stack of my medical records and slammed them down on the counter and said “I don’t have time for this.” She gave me a due date of February 23rd. I was scheduled to go back later to have a nurse practitioner review my medical history since the Dr. could not be bothered (my records were miniscule, since I have always been very healthy, even as a soon-to-be new Mom again at the age of 40).
I thought it was very odd and that it seemed somewhat unsanitary that Kaiser asks their patients to sit in the waiting room with their urine samples in a paper bag while waiting to be seen. I had never seen this before since usually there was a “secret door” in the ladies room for this at all other Drs. offices that I had visited in the past.
From my first visit going forward I saw nurse practitioners and midwives and my exams were all very routine. I felt great my entire pregnancy and was making preparations for our little one.
February passed and Lehna (My Little Starlet) was now past due. On March 1st, we visited a Dr. and he tried to schedule us in for an induction for March 10th or 11th. This would have put me 13 days past my due date. I asked if we could get in sooner than that as I honestly did not see how I would be able to go that long with the pregnancy. He made a call and was able to get us scheduled in for March 8th. He also scheduled us in for a Non-Stress Test for the next morning.
Thursday, March 2nd we showed up at 9:45 am for our stress test. Immediately, the technician noticed that I was having contractions and she was acting a bit odd. Now that I look back, there was an uneasyness to it all but I trusted they knew what they were doing. My technician left the room to go talk to the Dr. (the very same Dr. that could not be bothered by having to review my medical records in the very beginning). While my technician was out, the technician working with another patient behind a curtain next to me peeked her head around the corner and said “What’s going on over there? That doesn’t sound right.” I was just thinking the same thing… it sounded like my Baby’s heart beat was muffled somehow. My techician and the Dr. came back in and looked at something and then the Dr. left the room.
They kept me there longer than normal. In truth, I didn’t even know why but at one point, the technician asked if I wanted her to let my partner, who was waiting in the waiting room know that everything was ok and we would be finished soon. We had been there for quite awhile. The Dr. came in and signed off and the technician told me that I could go home. She said, “Now don’t be surprised if your little one comes by this evening since you are having contractions.” She also said…”Let me give you a heads up… if you are going to Walnut Creek Labor & Delivery, don’t call first, just show up and play dumb, because they may try to send you to Vallejo.” (Labor & Delivery asks that you call first before going to L&D)
We went home and just waited around while I had contractions. Later that evening I started having extreme upper abdominal pressure. It was quite uncomfortable and I thought that I was going into labor. Following the ttechnicians advice, we did not call L&D. We just showed up. Upon arrival, I rang the buzzer, told them I felt I was going into labor and was buzzed in. When I opened the door to triage, a nurse rudely asked, “Who are you?” I told her my name and said that I felt I was going into labor. She said “That’s funny, you don’t look like you are in labor, so what’s been going on?” I said “I’m having alot of upper abdominal pressure.” The nurse interrupted me and said “Pressure’s not labor, who’s your clinic? I’m surprised they didn’t do a better job explaining what labor is.” She was so rude that I began to cry and I said to her “Look, if this is going to be stressful, I’ll just put my clothes on and go back home.”
Just to appease me they put me on the monitors for awhile and asked me a few questions. I told them that I had not felt the Baby move as much and they said “Oh that’s just the calm before the storm.” I was told to “Go home and don’t come back unless you’re bleeding or your water breaks.” (I don’t know of many women whose water actually broke before going into labor, and i’ve asked several since then.)
After my horrible experience I did not know how I would ever show my face there again. I felt so humiliated and stupid. How dare I show up to have my Baby! Clearly, they were busy and I was nothing but a nuisance to them.
The next morning I woke up and felt pretty good even though I was still having contractions. They never progressed though and I certainly was not bleeding and my water hadn’t broke so I was not about to show up again at L&D until that happened.
Since I was having contractions, it was difficult for me to determine what were contractions and what was actually movement from the Baby. Now that I look back, I don’t think my Baby moved for most of the day Friday. I woke up Saturday morning thinking “Gosh, I didn’t feel the Baby move at all last night.” But I was still having contractions and I thought “that’s just the calm before the storm.”
6:00 pm that evening, I ate dinner and laid down to see if I could feel the Baby move. This was usually my Little Lehna’s most active time. I felt nothing. With much hesitation, I called L&D. Luckily, I was actually
able to speak with a nurse with a soul this time. She said, “If it will help you sleep tonight, just come on down and we’ll put you on the monitors.” And I said “Well, are you sure it’s ok?” She said, “Sure, you pay for your health care too.” Truly, if it had not been for her pleasant personality, I probably would not have even gone then.
When we arrived at L&D, immediately, the nurse could not find a heartbeat. She left the room and brought back a Dr. He confirmed our worst nightmare. Our Little Lehna was already gone.
My labor was induced and My Beautiful little Baby Doll was stillborn at 3:44 am. She was a Beautiful, 7 lb., 13 oz healthy little Girl. The autopsy showed no clear reason for her death. Meconium staining and severe hypoxia was noted (I do not claim to be a medical expert, however, these are typically signs of distress.)
Kaiser has given us no explanation other than “These things just happen.”
To add insult to injury, I had to make it my new full-time job to get a hold of the medical records. Since my first request on April 7th was “lost” I put in another request on June 2nd. I spent most of june running back and forth from Kaiser to Kaiser following up on retrieval of my records (had to visit them in person since no one EVER answers the phone).
A critical piece of information that Kaiser claims to have “lost” just happens to be the Fetal Heart Monitor Strip from my stress test done the morning before the day my Baby died. I was at Kaiser twice the day before Lehna died on Friday.
I noticed in the records that I actually managed to get a hold of, that the same Dr. that was so rude to me on my very first visit AND the same Dr. that signed off on the stress test, reviewed the medical records on March 6th. Is this when the missing Fetal Heart Monitor Strip so conveniently disappeared?
This was a day after I delivered My stillborn Beauty.
On another note… I visited a non-Kaiser specialist who reviewed the Fetal Heart Monitor Strip from my evening visit to Walnut Creek Labor and Delivery and who commented that there is a part on the strip that “looks lousy”. Walnut Creek Medical/Legal was able to retrieve this one from their computer archives so you would think they could do the same from the stress test earlier that day. They have NO record of it anywhere. “It has just vanished.”
Interesting.
Wow, that’s cold!
I hope someone told this poor woman that there are a lot of complaints about destruction of evidence at Kaiser (not to mention shameless lying to investigators). It’s only a matter of time before the Arbitration judges are going to be forced to deal with this.
The sad thing is even when Kaiser finally comes under scrutiny for this, nothing is going to be done to make it up to all the people who have been wronged and cheated in the past.
Oh yes, she knows now, too late like the rest of us.
My Kaiser OB/Gyn deliberately misrepresented my condition in her notes (it was so obvious it couldn’t have been something she innocently “missed”) and the notes from the nurse practitioners to whom I initially complained mysteriously disappeared.
According to the medical records I was able to get I had a perfectly uneventful birth, and I never complained of any complications whatsoever, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. My mother-in-law is an RN, used to work in L & D, and she witnessed everything and was appalled by what happened.
When I complained to regulators about the missing records and Kaiser’s cover up, Kaiser painted me as a raving lunatic and used their little re-write of history as backup, like what the hell is she complaining about.
This kind of thing happens in 100% of dispute cases with Kaiser — patient or employee — and it is for this very reason that people who are happy with Kaiser because they haven’t had a problem yet should be very afraid. If there is a problem or complaint it will never be addressed honestly, and any information you provide in the complaint process will only be used by Kaiser to figure out a way to deny everything. You’re just telling them what to shred.
Get your medical records before you complain people! I can’t say that enough.
As an employee going through a dispute for workman compensaton the same issue of “Disappearing records” and lost files has been happening to me. My workman compensation papers disaappered twice. H/R papers that they had to file were nver filed. My monthly doctors report never make it to them and somehow were lost. My Director never turned anything in, when my pay stubs stopped being sent to me , I received 10 pay stubs at home since I am now disabled and to my surprise my 298 vacation hours were down to 37. Oakland office were not aware I was out on disability and had me as on vacation.The Supervisor of the time keeping dept said that is commmon with Souther Ca Kaiser. and when your hours turn to 0 you would receive a termination letter.Other important files were ” Misplaced, Faxes are never received. My attorney had to get all my files before important increminating files are lost. Whhen a Kaiser investigator interviewd a Supervisor of mine regarding my case and it is in his final report that she stated she did not kmow about my issues until I lef t anf it was a surprise to her. The investigator found all my e-mails I had written to my bosses and H/r daetd up to a year prior regarding my concerns. Not only do they lose papers they fabricate little lies.
Kaiser killed this woman’s baby and she should be compensated, for way over what the malpractice cap is.
You are a victim of Kaiser’s standard operating procedure: Cut costs at the patients expense, prevent appointments, commit malpractice, destroy and fabricate records, force arbitration, and win no matter how dirty you play.
I got lucky with the birth of my daughter. I actually had somewhat of an “in” with the doctor, so she actually induced on the delivery date. You should have seen the look of bewilderment on the faces of the employees. They wanted to know who I was. They thought I was a Kaiser executive getting this kind of treatment.
As far as falsified and lost records: Kaiser does it in 100% of cases, no matter how big or small. They get away with it because it is in arbitration, and arbitrators do not care and look the other way. End the rigged arbitration system, and many problems will be resolved. Kaiser will not be comfortable enough to fabricate evidence in court where there will be repercussions, although they will still do it. Arbitration is a horrible and frustrating experience, and that is Kaiser’s goal.
Find out the name of the computer heart monitor. Find the manufacturer. Do some research. There may be files stored on it. But do not give KP any idea you are doing this or that monitor will be gone faster than they lost your records.
“They thought I was a Kaiser executive getting this kind of treatment.”
This is why I laugh my behind off when Robbie Pearl goes on TV boasting that his own family receives medical care at Kaiser, as if nobody knows he and his family receive special treatment. It certainly doesn’t say much about his opinion of the intelligence of the average Kaiser member. Or even worse, when he exploited his father’s supposed death by medical error for PR purposes when several deaths at Kaiser facilities were reported late last year. “Had he been a member of Kaiser Permanente, he would be alive today.” GAG!
FI Garcia: We got your email…hope you received the reply. When you’re ready to tell your story we’d be happy to publish it. Make sure you check with your lawyer first.
Thanks for your reply. I have checked w/ attorneys, I have written a story which later on will be summarized for your use.
. ..
I just want to say how very sorry I am. I thought my experience was so horrible with Kaiser–5 years I haven’t healed and they’ve done every thing they can to claim I’m crazy and fantasized the things I complained about. And when I went to the medical board Kaiser could not locate records for quite some time. I assume they edited them. However, no matter how hard the last five years have been for me it does not compare to what you have gone through. I will pray for you. I hope you have another beautiful baby soon. I know it won’t replace your first, but you clearly have so much to offer a child. Again, I am so very sorry.
Somebody somewhere MUST have a transcript of proceedings of arbitration, court proceedings, a deposition, something — ANYTHING where KP was found liable for falsifying or destroying records — an opinion stated by an arbitrator that says, We believe that KP falsified/destroyed records. Not all cases are lost . . . someone wins, and an opinion is given. Get THAT official transcript and you’ve got solid evidence that would be pretty hard to dispute.
Anyone know anyone who happens to have something like that?
My daughter was born at KP and sustained brain damage. Of course, they didn’t tell us that, nor did they tell us that they had to go through extraordinary lengths to resecitate her after birth. How can information like that be legally withheld?
I left a comment about a misdiagnosis story but you are right about the delay in receiving medical records. I requested them before my father died Oct.28,2006. They lost that request. My brother requested them 3 days after my father died. They delayed them until Dec. 12,2006 but included the orginal request in the records we received. We can prove that they delayed the request. We had to pretty much tell them that the delay was illegal and would be reported to the Calif. Medical Board. I am actually surprised that I have found enough proof in the records to back up my claims. But who knows what they took out. There are 2,500 pages from a 9 week stay. I hope that some lawyer sees that I have enough to at least prove they are incompentant practioners of medical care. I think Kaiser employs the bottom of the barrel. If I wasn’t there with my mom everyday they would have surely killed him sooner. Ther was no communication between doctors so one doctor would write a D/c medication order and another doctor would ignore that order eveb after we told him that my dad wasn’t supposed to take that medicine anymore. It was just nuts. My mom says that if she gets sick she just want to die at home. My dad suffered so muchin that hospital. When he arrived the doctor couldn’t believe he was 71 yrs. old. She swore he was 20 years younger. He was a shell of himself in 9 weeks. We need to make it our live’s mission to make Kaiser come to terms with their greed and incomptence.
Elizabeth,
I am very sorry about your father. I only wish that I knew then what I know now. My other Daughter, who was so looking forward to having a Baby Sister is still completely heart broken, as I am. I don’t know how Kaiser employees sleep at night. Kaiser has got to be THE biggest scam going.
Amazing to me that they are still in business and allowed to “practice medicine” given all the tragedies, screw ups, coverups, deceptions, fraud, etc. What a waste of lives and money. My little Lehna would almost be 1 year old. The hatred I carry for Kaiser for their callousness and negligence goes beyond what any word in the dictionary could define. Kaiser is a menace to society.
Pingback: Kaiser Permanente Thrive Exposed » Happy Birthday Lehna Jordann Brewer
I’ve had Kaiser for a few years but never really needed it except for the common cold. Then around Christmas of this year I started feeling unwell–various stomach pains, diarrhea, poor appetite, anxiety. Went to GP who ran a bunch of blood tests–negative. She said lactose intolerance. Few months later, still not feeling well. She referred me to a GI doc. GI did an ultrasound–negative. Then this past week I had severe stomach pain after hours so I went to the ER. I have had a kidney stone before and it felt awfully similar and I told them that. The doc felt my belly, said he didn’t think it was a stone. He ran my urine–bad UTI infection found! Was this my problem all along??? Why wasn’t my urine run way back around Christmas??? He gave me Cipro sent me home.
The next evening, Cipro was making me throw up and my stomach pain was still really bad. Hauled myself back to the ER. Told them it’s my kidneys I’m telling you. They finally agreed to do a CT scan–sure enough 2mm stone on my kidney. Plus UTI which was possibly a kidney infection….why they can’t tell me definitely whether I have a kidney infection I don’t know. And last I checked, kidney infections are dangerous. I’m a 27 year old woman I shouldn’t be having kidney damage right now.
The ER doc sent me on my way saying call me if anything changes. Call you …. this is Kaiser it’s IMPOSSIBLE to call your doctor you can only “leave a message” with someone in India and the doc MIGHT get it and MIGHT return your call. And guess what, you can’t even call ER docs through their message system. I politely asked HOW do I call him and he wrote down his “cell phone.” Well his cell phone turned out to be more like the main number to the ER. Today, still not feeling right. Cipro is giving me horrible diarrhea. Should I go off it? I called his “cell phone.” Some receptionist picked up and asked me to call back in an hour. I said well why doesn’t he just call me when he gets a chance? She said no you call him. Okay, I call back in an hour–phone rings and rings and rings, no voice mail. Two hours later I call again, they put me on hold 10 minutes claiming they’re getting him, 10 minutes later the phone clicks off I’m hung up on. Never talked to the doc today.
So here I am suffering with diarrhea and a possible kidney infection with no medical doctor to ask what should I do. My only option is to haul it back to the ER again! Look I have no problem going to the ER in an emergency but I don’t feel like this is an emergency and I don’t think I should have to go there and pay $50 copay just to be able to talk to a doctor.
Kaiser is fine for your common cold, but good luck to you if you ever get sick.
Try calling the advice nurse. If you don’t know the number, member services should be able to give it to you. The nurse can get you in to see a doctor at a clinic sooner, or might tell you to go to the ER.
I am so sorry for your loss. I recently went through a stillbirth myself. Lucky for me, it wasn’t through Kaiser. Still, from the comments I’ve read, they sounds horrible. Nothing anyone does could ever give you your Little Lehna back. Again, so sorry for your loss
Ive had Kaiser since I was born. Never in my life have I ever had a problem with Kaiser. I delivered 2 babies here and I am currently on Bedrest with my 3rd baby. Ive been hospitalized here since 23 weeks and 6 days I am 28 weeks and 6 days today. I must say all my Drs have been great. All my nurses have been even better. Ive had my galbladder removed here, Ive also had a cyst in my ovarie removed. And am currently hospitalized with a incopetent cervix and broken water. I will be here till my baby decides to come. Ive never ever had an issue with kaiser and. to be honesr I dont think I will ever change healthcare plans. Im so sorry for your bad experience. Im hoping nothing like that ever happens to me. However I do believe I am in good hands. Btw imnin Kaiser permanente Downey