Sunday, November 06, 2005, from The Oregonian: SUSAN GOLDSMITH and DON COLBURN Dr. Jayant M. Patel was a surgical star. Just three years after he was hired by Kaiser Permanente Northwest in 1989, the HMO gave him the job of training its young surgeons. Patel gravitated to the toughest cases, confidently rebuilding colons and removing… Read More »
By Julie Sevrens Lyons Fri, Nov. 04, 2005 – Mercury News Christopher Wibeto wasn’t the only South Bay Kaiser patient to die this year after receiving the wrong medication. In July, a 12-year-old girl hospitalized at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center-Santa Clara was mistakenly given a double dose of epinephrine, which speeds up the heart rate,… Read More »
November 2, 2005, SAN JOSE (AP) — A chemotherapy patient died after his doctor mistakenly administered medication intended for another patient, state investigators found. Christopher Robin Wibeto, 21, died three days after a cancer-fighting drug called vincristine was improperly injected into his spine in August, the state Department of Health Services said Tuesday. The agency… Read More »
[editor: We think this is a better title for Kaiser’s latest Thrive theme song] Kaiser Cheated to Get High “Quality” Marks Over the last couple of days Kaiser has put out a series of press releases to show off its high “Quality” scores from the Office of the Patient Advocate. People should be made aware… Read More »
From Pacific Business News: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Kaiser Permanente Hawaii for allegedly discriminating against a pregnant nurse in 2003. The commission filed suit Wednesday under the 1964 Civil Rights Act alleging that a nursing supervisor at Kaiser’s Wailuku Clinic on Maui withdrew an offer for promotion less than 24 hours… Read More »
[editor: On June 20, 2005 the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) issued the following press release announcing the outcome of its investigation into Kaiser Permanente’s unlawful disclosure of confidential patient information on the Internet. Kaiser has clearly been caught, yet is still pursuing its baseless lawsuit against the whistleblower. The DMHC doesn’t even… Read More »
From Associated Press: An Indian-trained surgeon linked to the deaths of at least 87 patients in Australia over two years had been given glowing references by six former colleagues in the United States, despite having been cited for negligence there earlier, according to copies of the references obtained by The Associated Press. Jayant “Jay” Patel,… Read More »
From BlueOregon.com: By Michael Davoli of Portland, Oregon who describes himself as “a liberal political consultant and legislative campaign consultant currently working on state and federal tax policy.” A person cannot turn on the television these days in Oregon without seeing the countless ads promoting Kaiser Permanente Health Care. These ads promote Kaiser as a… Read More »
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii penalized $1.9 million for defrauding Medicaid & Medicare — Whistleblower receives $225,000 April 15, 2005, from Pacific Business News: The U.S. and state attorneys general have penalized Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group $1.9 million for making improper Medicare and Medicaid claims. Kaiser was… Read More »
More than 3,000 Kaiser patients are at risk for hepatitis — Females alerted to unsanitized equipment that hospitals used April 8, 2005, from the Times-Herald: About 3,200 female patients from four Northern California Kaiser facilities, including Vallejo and Vacaville, have been notified that they may face a hepatitis infection due to improperly sanitized equipment during… Read More »