[April 28, 2008: It was a little over two years ago that Beth Stover’s daughter, Lehna Brewer, was stillborn at Kaiser Walnut Creek. We’re spotlighting this post again this week to coincide with an article in USA Today about the alarming national trend of missing records in medical error cases, in which Beth’s story is featured. Any new posts will appear below this one for the rest of the week.]
Update March 5, 2007: Lehna’s father speaks out about how deeply the death of his daughter has impacted the lives of her family — by former Kaiser HealthConnect employee, Andrew Brewer.
By Beth Stover
For a complete documentation of the events surrounding the death of My Baby at Kaiser Permanente, please read part one of my story.
Part Two:
Saying Goodbye
One year ago today, March 4th 2006, My Beautiful Baby — Lehna Jordann Brewer — was stillborn at Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, California. She didn’t have to die, but because Kaiser Permanente chose to withhold care and send me home, she died. This is a follow-up story documenting all of the challenges and roadblocks of the past year. It is not enough to be victimized only once at Kaiser. Kaiser chooses to continue victimizing by withholding critical medical information that the patient — EVERY PATIENT — has a right to as a U.S. Citizen. This is clearly stated in The Patient’s Bill of Rights.
ROADBLOCK Number 1: Destruction of Evidence
After Lehna died, apparently Kaiser felt that they had something hide. To date I have not been able to see the fetal heart monitor strip from the stress test done the morning before Lehna was stillborn. I have made several requests over the past year: in writing, and in person and by phone. According to Kaiser, the fetal heart monitor strip was “lost.” CONVENIENTLY LOST.
Only after I initiated an investigation by the California Department of Health, Licensing and Certification, did Kaiser begin to look for the missing fetal heart monitor strip. Ironically, the very same week that they were being investigated I received a phone call from the Kaiser ombudswoman telling me that they had found the missing strip in an envelope with my name on it. She told me, “Well, it doesn’t have a date or a time but we’re pretty sure it’s yours.” My response was, “Well, if it doesn’t have a date OR a time, OR a name OR a medical record number, then how can you be sure it’s mine?” And she replied, “We can’t.” She told me she would go ahead and put it in the mail. There is NOT ONE PIECE OF IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON THIS STRIP THAT WOULD EVEN REMOTELY CONNECT IT TO ME. This is not even mine; it is a blatant attempt to commit fraud. This strip belongs to someone else and Kaiser knows it.
As a 40-year-old woman who has lost her Baby, most people would assume I would get some answers as to why my beloved Lehna died. This has been all but impossible with Kaiser. Instead of working with me to get some kind of closure or answer that makes any sense, they have withheld critical records and have put more effort into covering up the facts. At age 40 I was never classified as high-risk by Kaiser. I have educated myself since then and now I know that even 36-year-old women are normally considered high-risk outside of the Kaiser system. I have since learned that minimizing risks in general is standard operating procedure at this organization that proclaims that it is “setting the standard for health care delivery worldwide.” Be very afraid.
Never mind the fact that once I passed my due date of Feb. 23rd, a Kaiser doctor attempted to schedule me for an induction that would have put me at 15-days past my due date (not 13, as originally noted in Part One of my story). Does this seem like the standard of care that EVERY OB patient is entitled to? A 40-year-old woman, 15-days past her due date? I’m still trying to figure out how delaying necessary intervention equates with quality care. THIS, in and of itself, appears negligent.
ROADBLOCK Number 2: No Cause of Action for Spoliation of Evidence
This is ludicrous. Did you know that in California it is not against the law to “lose” important Medical records? How convenient for Kaiser. All they have to do is “lose” the medical records and they seem to be off the hook. This “No Cause of Action for Spoliation of Evidence” is in direct contradiction to the Patient Bill of Rights. It is AGAINST THE LAW to destroy a patient’s medical records, but if you conveniently “lose” them, then that seems to be OK. Just as in my case, I have heard that a lot of medical records get “lost” at Kaiser. Missing and/or tampered medical records make it very difficult to prove your case which works very well for Kaiser.
ROADBLOCK Number 3: California’s MICRA and Kaiser’s own version of MICRA (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act)
This is a BIG ROADBLOCK and one that works very well for Kaiser and any other healthcare provider that has adopted the practice of providing negligent care, or should I say “withholding care”. MICRA is a law enacted back in 1975. Yes, 1975! This puts a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases in California. My Baby’s life is not worth enough money in California for a lawyer to be interested. It’s not a good business decision financially for lawyers to take on malpractice cases UNLESS the Baby/patient will need a lifetime of care. This brings us back to the missing fetal heart monitor in my case. Kind of makes us wonder if my Baby was left to die after discovering possible brain damage had already taken place. It is MUCH cheaper to let the Baby die instead of getting stuck with the economic damages that might have applied if Lehna had lived. This should have been my decision, NOT a financial decision made by Kaiser. I would have chosen to let Lehna live.
Not only do you have MICRA to go up against in California, but Kaiser saw how well MICRA prevented lawyers from going after them for medical malpractice that they decided to enforce a double whammy and put a $250,000 cap on any future Kaiser Members everywhere, who experienced medical malpractice within Kaiser. MICRA and Kaiser’s $250,000 cap is a LICENSE TO NOT PRACTICE MEDICINE since it prevents Kaiser from being pursued in the all too common event that medical malpractice has taken place. There seems to be no recourse for many Kaiser members and Californians due to the fact that finding a lawyer who will take these cases is next to impossible. ALL Kaiser members, not just in California, need to read the fine print in their agreement with Kaiser.
“In the cold calculations of medical malpractice, a brain-damaged baby is worth more than a dead baby. The brain-damaged baby will need a lifetime of specialized care.”
“Arbitrary caps on “non-economic” compensation unfairly discriminate against the suffering of women — who typically sustain injuries due to medical negligence, such as laceration of the uterus or loss of a new born during child birth, that do not carry high “economic” price tags but involve significant loss. Injuries sustained by homemakers are also unvalued, because they have no “wage loss.” Caps not only deny women victimized by medical malpractice fair compensation and legal representation for their injuries, but subject women to repeat offenders and have been undeterred.”
ROADBLOCK Number 4: Kaiser’s Ability to tamper with medical records
Not only does Kaiser destroy medical records, but they change medical records at will. In the original notes from the delivery room when Lehna was born it was first reported that I had a fever of 103. Later on in notes, the Dr. had gone in and “amended” the original notes. She dropped my fever from 103 to 101. Now, would someone please tell me how she would know this sort of thing after the fact? A fever is a fever and no one could not have possibly known hours after the fact what my fever was unless it was documented at the time, which it was. It was documented at 103. PERIOD. Why the need to go back and change it hours later?
ROADBLOCK Number 5: Kaiser’s Ability to Deny, Deny, Deny.
During the investigation by the California Department of Health, Licensing and Certification, back in Dec. 2006, the nurses and doctors at Kaiser were interviewed/investigated regarding my account of how I was treated at Walnut Creek Labor and Delivery the evening before Lehna died. One nurse in particular, whose initials are J.V. (and she knows who she is), completely denied everything to investigators. Once again, Kaiser is off the hook since it is her word against mine. Why, I ask, would I have a need to make this sort of thing up? I remember it all like it was yesterday. This is not something you ever forget. I will also add that there was a deficiency notice given to Kaiser for their lack of documentation surrounding the Death of My Baby. This comes as no surprise.
ROADBLOCK Number 6: My Baby was a “Non-Event.”
Dad and Big Sister Say Goodbye
California law says that since Lehna died before she was born that she is considered a “Non-Event.” Please take a look at the photos of My Baby. Does She look like a Non-Event? The Birth of Lehna was the biggest and most important event of my life (along with the birth of my first Daughter). With no disrespect to Laci and Connor Peterson, the manner of death should not be a factor in determining whether or not My Baby is considered a Human Being, an “event.” Lehna was most certainly an event to us. A MUCH-LOVED, FULL-TERM, BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL.
I will continue to document the chain of events as I go along. But today, my oldest Daughter and I will eat cake and remember our Little Lehna who would have turned one today. It’s a very quiet day in our home.
Happy 1st Birthday My Dear Little Lehna.
I love you Beth. What a poignant anniversary message. So well documented and heartfelt. The pictures are beyond words. I salute you for your heroic effort and console you in your continuing grief. I will call you soon. Love to Elise and of course, my prayers, always.
Alexa
This really is a heart-wrenching story. It’s impossible for me to imagine the pain you’ve gone through and this loss you’ve experienced. The chilling lack of accountability by your HMO is truly terrifying. There has to be recourse out there, and I pray you find it. I don’t imagine there’s ever “closure” for such a tragic, irresponsible situation, but I hope you are able to hold accountable those who did so little to save the life of your child and who now have gone to such great lengths to hide the truth of their action. I know it, like so much after such a loss must mean so little, but I’m so, so sorry.
As many of you may know, a story was recently published in the LA Times under Dan Costello’s byline outlining some of the problems underlying Kaiser’s multi-billion dollar white elephant, Health Connect.
In that story I was quoted as saying that in my fairly extensive career as an IT project manager that I had never seen a project so poorly or ineffectually managed as this one. What Dan failed to mention in his story is that the motivation for me to come forward with my concerns stemmed largely from the manner in which my daughter’s stillbirth was handled and the completely ridiculous manner in which my daughter’s mother had been treated both during and after her pregnancy.
Of course, Lehna Jordann Brewer is my daughter, too, and my position as someone tasked with designing business processes and providing some level of testing oversight for the project could not protect us from the bottom-line approach taken by Kaiser and the economics of death (as I learned AFTER the fact) make for a strange and, in our case–Beth, Elise, Riana, and myself–tragic bed fellow.
There is a 30% chance that induction of labor will lead to an emergency c-section and thus (the REAL problem) potentially lead to a greater expense. Fixed cost projects of any kind do not like the sound of a 30% chance of revenue loss.
But, if a woman goes beyond her due date there is an approximate 1 in 300 chance that the child may die. Also keep in mind that Beth, no matter how healthy and fit she is, was a 40 year old woman and potentially a high-risk pregnancy due to her age. These are not particularly good odds for a parent and no parent, if presented with this scenario, would accept these odds but Beth and I are not doctors, we assumed all was well–after all this was a company that paid me a fairly handsome sum to work for them on what I knew to be one of the largest, most expensive software initiatives in history so (from my perspective) this was a cash rich organization and certainly one that would watch over our special needs–and so we were not informed of the risks associated with having the pregnancy continue so far past the due date.
I know for many of you the idea of what Beth (especially Beth) and I went through–and continue to go through each day–must be unimaginable. But, please bear with me as I attempt to share our story in a way in which, perhaps, you may get a better sense of what happened exactly one year ago today.
So: First thing–I want you to imagine a scene. I want you to imagine a baby’s fat little naked body. I want you to imagine the baby’s chubby little cherub body lying on your chest like you saw in that video in the birthing class you and her mother took the month before she died in Mommy’s belly.
I want you to imagine the baby now being coaxed out of her grieving morphined mother. I want you to see it, really see it. You can hear the nurses whispering, their small pleasantries and kindnesses too little too late but you are appreciative just the same. Look at the clock. You are constantly watching the clock. Pulling time forward, desperately trying to push it a few days back. You know what’s coming. You brace yourself but you have no idea, really, what to expect.
To add to the torment the mother has to be induced. She is not ready, naturally, to deliver her child but the baby is already dead and she has to come out somehow. A caesarean is out–too risky. It is not worth the risk to the mother (and later, when you begin putting two and two together, the EXPENSE for the hospital). The drugs are administered (poorly) the prayers for deliverance and strength offered, the nightmare has just begun. It is 3:00 am Sunday morning.
You hold the mother’s hand; you try, somehow, to make the night as peaceful and comfortable for her as you can. The mother is beautiful truly physically beautiful and she is going through something no one should EVER have to experience and you do your part to make the pain she feels now as bearable as you can and you brace yourself for the next wave of pain you know is coming.
When she starts to come out, PUSH PUSH PUSH, her little head peaking out PUSH PUSH PUSH of her mother’s vagina, you die. On the spot. Your heart doesn’t just break. It stops beating. It no longer beats, it simply allows blood to somehow flow from place to place to place.
The baby, as you know, is already dead, and when she is pulled free her little lifeless body covered in her protective sack, her little dark hairs plastered tight against her cold little head, your mind breaks off a bit and ropes off a little space over in the corner under the boogie man and next to the spiders and bats and creepy old Mrs. Caverly, your ninth grade English teacher, the one who called you a parasite because you didn’t read “Great Expectations”. The birth of this child and all the terrible pictures and sounds and smells of the night (and, of course, the following day) is something that you can never forget. It is also something that you would never WANT to forget. This day is your only day and it will have to last a long long while.
Her death and the day you spent together is a line in the sand that marks in many quite recognizable ways the end of your own life. The baby’s death now becomes your death. Remember what I have said.
The baby’s death is your death. You are no longer the same; you can never EVER even pretend to be the same. You might just as well be dead yourself.
Perhaps, maybe, you are.
Remember, too, what it was like the night before after you drove to the hospital and when you found out in the labor and delivery triage room that somehow your baby had died, a baby who had gone full-term through a perfect pregnancy, a baby you had expected two days earlier, when you first came to this same triage room, to hold in your arms and dance and kiss and smooch for a lifetime.
Neither Beth nor I nor our beautiful daughters Elise and Riana will ever be the same again. No settlement no apology no ANYTHING will ever make it right. After Lehna’s death I stayed at Kaiser because I believed that my skills as a business analyst would help minimize the chances of this happening to other parents but the project is beyond, I believe, ever really being fixed.
Beth and I had many quite serious disagreements about my continuing role at Kaiser after Lehna’s death but I believed, then, that this was the correct approach, no matter how damaging psychologically this may have been to both Beth and me. Also, it allowed me to watch, like a hawk, exactly what was happening within the project over the past year from a fairly unique vantage point.
But when Lehna’s fetal heart monitor strip just magically “showed up” one day–WITHOUT a date/time stamp–THEN I changed. It was then, literally THAT DAY, on the spot, as if a bolt of lightening had been attached rather crudely to my behind, that I became ABSOLUTELY determined to (a) leave Kaiser and (b) tell “MY story”.
In retrospect I am not so sure I was correct in taking this approach but I was trying, to the best of my ability under the circumstances, to salvage what had been a fairly successful career and I did not want to lose both my child AND the career I had worked so hard for so long to craft and nurture but, ultimately, Lehna’s death has most likely ended my career as well. Certainly her death has tarnished the rest of my life in ways that can never be undone.
There are a multitude of problems within Kaiser and certainly a multitude of “potentially” serious problems (in my opinion–realize, though, that this is only my opinion) within Health Connect.
This is not the proper forum for discussion of those problems. Perhaps, quite soon, I may address those in greater detail. But for now what matters is honoring our beautiful baby girl.
Lehna Jordann Brewer was finally delivered into the world in Walnut Creek, CA at 3:44 am on Sunday, March 5, 2006 but, officially, this child never existed even though almost every time I touched her Mommy’s belly she reached out her little hands to pat me; how can anyone ever REALLY get over this?
Lehna Jordann Brewer, according to the laws of California, was never born, she never died she is, legally, nothing but she is something to us and perhaps one day her life and death may serve a higher purpose. She was and is a BEAUTIFUL BABY: our little muffinizer rascalian girl.
I did not know why you had become a crusader to reform Kaiser, so thank you for sharing your tragic experience. The pain and suffering Kaiser causes innocent patients is much more important than the injustices they encourage against employees and the incompetent management at the top, but it is all part of the same problem. The more I hear about Kaiser, the more I think it can never give good medical care if it stays as big as it is. Patients and employees have become just faceless numbers. The more people who are injured, the less shocking each becomes, and they get lost in the crowd. Each hospital and clinic should be independent and scrutinized for the care it gives. Cost cutting should be done by eliminating insurance companies, having a single payer government medical system as all other modern countries have, not by cutting corners on medical care as Kaiser does. (Those other countries have higher life expectancies.)
Hello, and I wanted to join you in wishing your beautiful daughter a happy birthday. Michael Townes Watson, author of “America’s Tunnel Vision–How Insurance Companies’ Propaganda Is Corrupting Medicine and Law.”
I am not the author of this post, but Lehna’s mother has become a crusader for Kaiser reform in her own right.
Today is a very sad day for me and the rest of my family as well. I am the maternal grandmother of Lehna Jordan Brewer and I was present at the birth of that beautiful baby. I still and forever will feel the pain of waiting through the labor and the delivery of that lifeless baby, the agony of waiting for tht gasp for air and the ensuing cry, which, of course, never came. And then the following day, trying to bond and capturing pictures in my mind, the pictures that will have to last the rest of my lifetime. And then the inevitable–leaving the baby behind and returning to a home so ready for the joy of a new life, now a home so haunting, quiet and empty. If this writing seems grammatically incorrect and if there are mispelliings, it is because I am writing it through tears. I ask for you prayers for us, a way to somehow ease our loss. My daughter and her family have had to endure what no mother, father or sibling should have to experience. We put our trust in human support and then we are disappointed. HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY LEHNA JORDANN
The following is a verse I wrote for Beth, Andy and Elise. Perhaps it will bring comfort to another grieving family.
March 06, 2006
Dearest Mommy, Daddy and sisters Elise and Rianna
I thank you for wanting me and loving me.
Please do not weep for me as I have gone to a place where the sun is warm and bright and I know no sorrow or pain.
The clouds are white and soft as snow, they are my bed.
I am asleep in the arms of Jesus, the Angels protect me.
Although I could not live an earthly life, I will forever be with you in a spiritual life.
I will always be your Buddy, Elise. My new friends will be the soft lambs and fuzzy kittens.
Look for me in the sunrise and sunset and in the colors of the rainbow.
I am the sun glistening on the dew on the morning blossoms.
I am the breeze moving the grasses and the leaves.
I am in a drop of rain coming down to bring life to all of God’s creation.
Celebrate my birth time in the Springtime when nature returns from Winter’s sleep.
I am a butterfly. If you sit quietly, I will come and sit upon you. And when I come to touch you, remember, I love you too and will forever look forward to being with you in Heaven.
LOVE!! Lehna Jordann
Nelda:
Thank you again so much for your support for all of us and it meant a lot to me (as well of course Beth and Elise) to have you with us then.
Andy
Happy Birthday Lehna – an angel in HEAVEN.
My brother’s baby, Natalie, was born at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach, CA. with a massive stroke and died a few years later. My brother fully believes that she was killed by the medical community because she was profoundly disabled. A huge cover-up ensued by all medical professionals involved in Natalie’s care.My brother’s life went downhill after that; he is homeless and an addicted substance abuser. He never got over it. There are so many victims of trauma caused by medicine and it’s lack of transparency. The Wall of Silence has harmed so many.
Beth, I am involved with a group of patient activists in No. Cal. who are trying to bring forth some psychological care for Medically Induced Trauma victims. (They have http://www.mitss.org back in Boston, as Boston is more progressive than California on this subject right now, including apologies and full disclosures to patients). We need apologies and full disclosure, but we also need accountability.
Watch for more info on my sites:
http://patientblacklisting.org
http://doctorapologies.com – coming this week
Blessings,
Thank You Kemila. I will check out your sites. I am so very sorry to hear of what has become of your Brother. So devastating to hear. I can certainly see how this would make a wreck out of your life. I hope your brother is able to get the treatment he deserves. At the very lowest point of my life, I had to get my life back on track and fast. The only thing that keeps me sane is the hope that maybe my experience can bring some change for the better. I moved my Daughter, Elise, cross country so that Andy could take his job with Kaiser. My Daughter and I are still living out of boxes but at least we have a home to come back to.
“We need apologies and full disclosure, but we also need accountability.” Kemila, I absolutely agree with you. There is no need to enforce more psychological and emotional trauma on victims by witholding critical information. Accountability and apologies would go a long way toward healing the victim.
Hi again Lehna’s mom,
Look into the subject of “Complicated Grief.” My brother was diagnosed with it years after his baby’s death. It is a severe form of grief which comes from a lack of resolution over the death. Medical cover-ups cause this kind of grief in survivors.
Bless you and Elise and your husband and mother!
I would like to add a note about My Mother, Nelda McMillan, who commented above. My Mother worked many years as Director of Medical Records in Kansas Hospitals and Virginia. She was President of the Kansas Medical Record Association and was damn good at her job. There were times when she was subpeonaed by the courts to appear with medical records in hand. If she had shown up in court without the medical records in question she would have been found in contempt of court and most likely would have been thrown in jail. My, how things have changed in the world. The justice system now seems to condone the withholding or “loss” of medical records. My Mother was a perfect example to me of what there needs to be more of in the medical profession, INTEGRITY.
The idea that a stillborn child is a non-event seems logically antithetical to the concept that a “child” can be murdered in the womb. This interpretation has, to me anyway, always been problematic.
Lehna was absolutely our child. We all miss her and her death really ruined our lives in so many ways. I changed her diaper and she spit up on my shirt. How she had a poopy diaper and COULD spit up on my shirt I don’t know but I have the diaper and shirt to prove it.
We have locks of her hair. More importantly in a little box wrapped in a blankie we have what is left of Lehna, a pile of ash, with no kisses or toys or happy memories, nothing but a little cardboard box.
The more time passes the more I blame Kaiser for the way in which they handled the situation and the manner in which they treated Beth. As time passes, my ideas conform more to Beth’s interpretation of what happened no matter how far apart they may have been six to eight months ago.
It was the manner in which Kaiser handled–or should I say “mis-handled”–Beth’s medical records that led me to change my opinion and that change has caused me an incredible amount of grief and made it difficult for me to return to the corporate “world” again.
Now I have no baby, no Beth and Elise, no job, really no prospects or inclination, perhaps, for EVER returning to the six figure plus golden boy world I lived in before her death.
And if this can happen to me with all the safe guards I had in place then it can also happen to you, too.
DON’T let this happen to you or anyone you love. It is not something you can easily forget.
Here is a picture of me kissing my “non-event. As you can see Lehna was a beautiful baby and I believe that she would have been a beautiful wonderful child with two parents who truly loved her and wanted her.
Amen Andy. I’m with you.
Lehna’s mom and dad,
I wanted to stress that it would be a good idea to call the Medically Induced Trauma Support Services counseling hotline at 1-888-36MITSS (1-888-366-4877). (Business hours: eastern time).
They are the only psychological support clinic in the entire country so far for victims of medical error and cover-ups. They are in Boston, and those lucky people in Boston can attend group therapy for victims of medical trauma. However,they will give you a listening ear and validate your feelings. The counselors understand and are gathering research info so that maybe other therapists may become interested in doing this kind of work. I hope you will give them a call and allow them to offer you their support.
Best,
Hi Kemila,
Thank You. I will definitely give them a call. Thank You Kemila, I appreciate your support very much. I will also keep an eye on your websites.
My dear friend Beth,
I am left almost speechless after reading all these posts, from you, from Andy, from your Mom, and all the other people with their wonderful supportive words.
Please know that my heart goes out to you as ever before. Even though I hadn’t seen you for years until last month, the bond is still STRONG. We will stay in touch.
Much love, Vicky
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Hi Beth and Family,
I am still so appalled at this whole incident; even after all I’ve been through with these dogs, I can’t believe that their lack of care is so widespread. It defies all statistical possibilities that one hospital system could cause so much damage.
Why don’t you ever hear crap about Ceder’s Sinai? St. Joe’s, St. Luke’s, St. Mary’s, or any other large hospital? It absolutely blows my mind.
My heart and prayers go out to you and your family. Unfortunelty, I am all to familar with Walnut Creek Kaiser and the experience you had. The manipulation, lies and lost records is a pattern with these killers.
Beth and I were not treated fairly by Kaiser after Lehna’s death and I have worked through many of my “fear issues” with Kaiser and believe it is time now to start a more aggressive campaign to get some answers as to what REALLY happened to our beautiful baby and why we were treated as poorly as we were after her death. It is not fair how people are treated by Kaiser and I am sick to death of it and NOW I plan on trying to do something about it.
Yes, and Kaiser I want for you to know that I don’t plan on stopping my search for the truth. We have EVERY right to know what happened to Lehna. I am tired of lying awake at night wondering what was happening on Lehna’s fetal heart monitor strip at her stress test that so conveniently disappeared. Couldn’t have been good considering she died the next day and I have yet to see my records.
We are now at a year past when I requested those records. Oh, I was able to see someone else’s records, but not mine. How’s that for patient privacy?
Yes Beth has worked very hard to get as far as she has. The only perspective that I believe makes sense as to why it has been so difficult for her to get our daughter’s records is that they are being evasive; i.e. they have something to hide.
As I have said before, if this could happen to someone who was the domestic partner of a KP IT Problem Manager and Test Lead tasked with procedural oversight over a multi-billion dollar software implementation, then how safe is the “average” Kaiser member?
In my opinion, not very safe at all. The biggest mistake of my life (and sadly I have made quite a lot of them) was using Kaiser as our primary care physician for Lehna and believing in them as long as I did.
kaiser uses electronic medical record.
i think if you wanted you could find the “CONVENIENTLY LOST” or better said deleted notes
get a good attorney
also read the California board of medicine site and find out how you can file a complaint
I am a doctor’s advocate, I am not saying go after the doctor. the HMO’s dictate the doctors and they fire conscientious doctors who put patient before cost
so please do not be so harsh on the doctors
with the malpractice insurance so high, few doctors (obstetrics and gynecologist) can afford practicing on their own and they are forced to selling out to criminal HMO’s like Group Health (GHC) in Washington and kaiser in California. hope this help
99.9 % of doctors are devastated with an outcome like yours. it is the HMO monster that do not care and they are for profit only, under the disguise of not for profit
what happened to my post
Nothing happened to it. Comments are moderated for spam and abuse. I just happened to be here right now so I could approve it. Otherwise it would have had to wait til morning. No need to post multiple times.
The specific doctors involved are very much to blame. I agree not all doctors are bad, and Kaiser weeds out the ethical ones.
If you read more closely, you’ll see that attorneys rarely if ever take a case like this because of California’s MICRA law, and the arbitration requirement.
Kaiser routinely alters and destroys medical records, and intentionally leaves out the incriminating stuff, to avoid responsibility for maiming and killing people. It happens in literally every case that is reported to us. Every single one. And it’s not as easy as you think to recover them, although it does occasionally happen.
Thanks for your input. I hope everyone agrees that an outcome like this is devastating to all involved.
Thanks Admin, well said. As a matter of fact I had a discussion just yesterday with yet another California lawyer. After hearing the detailed account of what Kaiser did to Lehna, he said there is NO question that Kaiser dropped the ball. Unfortunately, because of MICRA and Kaisers binding arbitration, this becomes a matter of economics. This is why, to date, there is no lawyer. And this is EXACTLY what Kaiser is counting on. This is how they get away with murder.
If this was a murder committed on the street then most likely the perpetrator would be in prison (let’s hope anyway, but given today’s justice system, it kind of leaves a person to wonder if even this is true).
Dear Admin,
I forgot to mention that I’ve got a secret, i’ve got secret. I’ll send you a private email with details!
Back again, I want to comment in response to the Anonymous Doctor who posted above, Thank You for your post. I wish it was easier said than done to get CONVENIENTLY LOST medical records recovered. However, with Kaiser, they will never make this easy because these are records that are not supposed to be found. This critical piece of information is probably locked away in their risk management dept. This might explain why the Ca Dept. of Health, Licensing and Certification, during their investigation, was not allowed to look at certain records because they could not be found. The record was marked “closed record.” I have repeatedly requested the fetal heart monitor strip from the morning of March 2, 2006 to be turned over. This was done on a machine so there SHOULD be easy backup since I was able to get a computer printout strip from the evening visit. The strip I WAS finally given months later at exactly the same time they were being investigated by the Ca. Dept of Health Lic, Cert. is not even mine. As stated in the story, there is not one piece of identifying information on this strip other than my name which was handwritten on the computer printout after they managed to find a sufficient phony strip that they could pass off as mine. Now, if I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote your name and medical record number on it, then it suddenly becomes your medical record, right? WRONG. I don’t like the rewrite of history, it is not an actual account of what really happened. And to the nurses at Walnut Creek Labor and Delivery just because you are busy and there is a full moon on a particular night, does not mean you should completely ignore the patients symptoms and send them home EVEN when the release notes already say “when to call labor and delivery.” I was already there, in labor and delivery, with the symptoms that are considered troubling and a reason to “call labor and delivery” and was still sent home with the most dangerous symptom of upper abdominal pressure not even being addressed AT ALL. Upper Abdominal pressure is not a good sign. Nor are headaches for 2 days and decreased fetal movement. Not to mention the lack of beat to beat variability on the strip. This is an OMINOUS sign.
I am LUCKY to be alive myself.
I was not examined by a Doctor that night.
I was not bleeding and my water hadn’t broken so therefore I was sent home. That is seriously narrow minded thinking. Seriously. And you better believe, with that kind of thinking, there are sure to be MANY other Babies that die at Kaiser Permanente.
My Baby died less than 12 hours after leaving that Labor and Delivery room.
http://app.permanente.net/cgi-bin/ppso
just mention the initial or a hint
which one is it
don’t think i’ll even go there.
i posted your link on the comments
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
they get a lot of traffic
hopefully someone out there will help you
Quote from a Kaiser transplant victim…
“If you are so busy, Mary-Pat Sherman, hire some help!” says the letter in his court file. “You have lives on the line!”
I see a pattern here…
Hmmmmm…
“Kaiser is fighting to move Burks’ lawsuit to arbitration, but the first ruling favored Burks. In October, a Superior Court judge in Sacramento ruled that when Burks joined Kaiser, he unfairly signed away his Constitutional right to a trial by jury because the arbitration notice Kaiser gave him as a new member was in unobtrusive 7-point type at the bottom of his enrollment form without italics, highlighting or bolding. The notice violated a “prominence” standard of the California Health and Safety Code, the judge ruled. Kaiser has appealed.”
Kaiser members everywhere, check the point size on your agreement!
as i wrote to you before, i regret having posted that site,
after reading their comments I see how the democrats lost election. these people really discredit democrats
good luck to you
john
It just gets harder and harder as time goes on to deal with what has happened to us since our beautiful baby girl was allowed to die due to Kaiser’s inattention to our needs. What they did then by hiding and losing the records SHOULD be a crime but they are too powerful to fight. The system is rigged against the “average” person–the kind of person, say, who might be forced to accept Kaiser as their insurer.
I cried when reading your story. I just gave birth to my second baby girl on Feb 23rd – Lehna’s due date. I can not imagine your pain … when you lose someone you already love … and are anxious to hold in your arms.
I am sensitive to KP concerns. I just learned that KP SF has NOT told my dad (a patient there for 30 years) he was a diabetic since 2003. He was finally told he was diabetic NOT when he came in with a fasting glucose of almost 300, but after his moronic physician gave him a GLUCOSE TOLERANCE test that pushed his sugar to 400! That was just 2 weeks ago. What is more, my father was started on metformin, which is contraindicated in renal insufficiency (side effect is lactic acidosis, which carries a 45% mortality rate), without any kidney testing, lab follw-up, or explanation of potential side effects (negligence and outright malpractice). In fact, as I learned yesterday, his last blood panel was in 2001! I tested his urine and found him to have proteinuria and I got his hemoglobin A1C and faound it to be almost 11%! His KP doc did not test these VERY BASIC things. What’s more, today he told my father that kidney testing was not necessary!!!! In fact, I have still not succeeded in having them get my dad these BASIC tests that are the STANDARD OF CARE. Are they trying to cover up the fact that they missed diabetes for 4 years?
I am a board certified Nephrologist. I am still in utter shock. KP must be completely immune from law suits.
My heart goes out to you and your family.
I am so sorry to hear about your baby Girls death. I have been a Kaiser patient since I was born. I gave birth to my son at Kaiser Walnut Creek in Decembe 2002. Here is my story.
I was due with my first child in December 2002. Due date : Dec 14th. I received regular pre-natal care for myself throughout the pregnancy. My due date came and went. I was enormous and uncomfortable. I went into for a Non- Stress Test just before Christmas. They would not induce me. Being that it was 15 days past my ” due date” they decided to induce on Dec 27th, 2002. At that time, I was relieved that they had finally started to do something. I was hooked up to the monitors and given pitocin to help start the labor going. Nothing happend… nothing. 24 hrs later, they tried putting Cervadil (sp?) on my cervix to attempt to get me to proceed. I started going into labor but they saw that my sons heartrate decellerated to 60 bpm. They rushed in and tried to ” reposition ” him. It happnened again and they rushed me to surgery. 10 minutes later, my son was born. A healthy 10 lbs, 11 oz and 22.5 inches, or so we thought. My son wasn’t healthy… there was something wrong. But we didn’t find this out until a few hours later. My husband left to go eat at Emil Villa’s next to the hospital with my parents and his. They went home and my husband came back to see our son. The nurse said ” You can’t see him now, he’s really sick and he may not make it”…. WHAT ?!?!?! 1 hr ago he was fine. Come to find out my son was born with Pneumonia. He spent 10 days in the NICU. He is ok now.. but I find it odd that I spent not ONE DOLLAR on his birth…for 10 days in the NICU not one medical bill was sent to me. Now, maybe I am lucky that it happen to be my coverage at the time ( I have never asked why it didn’t cost me anything ) or was it that Kaiser had done something and is covering it up. My husband is scarred by that nurse telling him that his son may not make it.
My heart goes out to you and your family….
I have tears rolling down my face for you my dear.
If only people could know more stories like this poor darling mommie who lost her child.
Whether or not the drs. were at fault – what does it demonstrate to the general public at large? When Nelda said be “afraid be very afraid” – isn’t it sad that we must be afraid at all……….but I am.
I am not a Kaiser patient but you know, it doesn’t matter ALL hospitals operate off their bookkeeping. As a human we have a DOLLAR VALUE – that’s it – plain and simple.
I was a victim of another hospital- had a mastectomy which I thought was warranted. Nope, no cancer. Hmmm says the surgeon “try to look at the bright side, I fixed it so you can never get cancer.” Huh? Pass that by me again -[after I rip your face off that is]
Needless to say – some fat redfaced bald [looked like a boozer] type of judge says — Ruling for defendants – hmmmm wanted to rip his face off too~ but couldn’t get near him.
Da judges will see lawyers every day – they only see us once – They forget that we don’t forget and our children don’t forget…..They are the ones who cause the grief by allowing the scum lawyers and crooked judges run us down like a freight train.
They are elected and believe me it’s up to us to ELECT judges who are fair.
Right now there is no such thing.
Dear Beth & Andrew, thank you for visiting my blog on the “Kaiser S***s!” title. Im sorry to hear abt ur Baby Lehna. Its inhumane, what they did to you. I can not imagine wht you guys have been through but just by reading your story makes me weep then i know its something that I would never want to feel nor experience.
Even before reading your story, I have already decided that im not going to try and have a baby at Kaiser. To me, if i cant even get a service to make an appointment, how would I know that I’l be getting any sevice/treatment at all when Im finally pregnant. Im not sure what we’r going to do (most likely try the conception kit) but I have decided that when the time comes, Im going back to Malaysia to give birth! The price is too high when the medical centre decided that a baby’s life (and/or yours) is worth next to nothing.
p.s. Happy Birthday Lehna.
Farina,
You are absolutely right when you say the price is too high when electing for kaiser “care.” I would have much rather spent the $17,000. out of pocket or the $35,000. (for a c-section) that other California hospitals charge for an uninsured birth than to walk out of Kaiser with no Baby and missing medical records on top of it. So much for getting any answers.
I hope if you havent’ already seen the movie Sicko, that you will soon.
Best of Luck Farina with your new family.
I am so completely sorry for the loss of your very beautiful daughter. I am at a loss to say anything else.
Thank You Lisa.
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Happy Birthday Little Lehna. Your Experience has really hit me hard and i feel so terrible for your loss. I am a trainee lawyer in Scotland and after reading your story i feel so angry and upset at the lack of support the authorities are giving you! It seems that in California everybody’s life comes at a price. I hope this kind of negligence by the Health authorities doesnt happen in the UK. As for the legal system it just dumbfounds me! If i was a lawyer in California and i had the chance to help you when you have had such a bueatiful life taken away, money wouldn’t even come into the quuation. Sounds to me like this ‘Kaiser’ are untouchable and can go ahead playing ‘GOD’. They seem to have the support of the LAW and nobody wants to challenge them. Its just not right!
I am so sorry for your loss. You sound like a really strong family and your obviously very brave. Im sure you wont let Kaiser forget the name of little baby Lehna Jordann Brewer. I for one will remember her always
Douglas Park
Thank You Douglas for your kind words.
This is why in California it’s “Kaiserfornia.” Kaiserfornia is above the law.
LEHNA’S WISH IS MY COMMAND!
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i hope this doctore gets what they deserve i could not imagen how you to feel i have a 2 year old i could not imagen my life with out her i am sorry for your loss
To the parents and family of a beautiful baby girl;
Our thoughts go out across the Atlantic to you, and we hope that your loss and heart wrenching account can help lead to a better future where such tradgedies never have to happen again.
X
TO OUR LITTLE ANGEL
God sent you down for just a while
You made us so much stronger
We only wish we could have seen you smile
For just a little longer
We held you in our arms with love
We tried hard not to weep
As Angels called you up above
To safely guard and keep.
God didnt send you down to earth
To fill our life with sorrow
Nor did he promise at your birth
You would still be ours tomorrow
Our little Angel you will always be
Though your days on earth were few
We shall cherish every memory
Of every moment spent with you.
Because your gone our hearts are sad
But we shall find you one sweet day
So rest assured your mom and dad
Are not all that far away!
Thank You Carrie. How touching and beautiful! Thank You. I’ve just now placed a lighted angel on our front lawn
and came in and read your BEAUTIFUL poem. What a beautiful gift and so sweet coming from someone we have yet to meet.
Love and Blessings to you Carrie!
From Beth, Lehna (in Spirit), Elise, Willy, Joy-Joy, Hope, Acrobat, PJ, Sunshine, Pepsi, Oreo, and Precious and Goldi (in Spirit)
(ps. those are all our pets)
I came across your page while looking for poems and couldnt believe what I was reading. I lost my daughter 2 years ago at the age of 5 and would have felt the same about losing her at any age, She was your baby no matter how old.I wanted to say you are in my thought’s and prayers.
Michelle,
I want to say to you how sorry I am about losing your Daughter. I hope that you are healing and are able to enjoy life again. I DO know how difficult this can be sometimes. Since Lehna died before she was born I am amazed at the insensitivity sometimes that I get from people. Even though others can easily forget I won’t be forgetting. She is my child every bit as much as my beautiful 9 year old. I wish you MUCH, MUCH happiness and JOY in your life Michelle. You deserve every bit of it.
Please feel free to write any time!
To Lehna’s Mom and Family,
I am so sorry for your devasting loss. I am all too familiar with Kaiser Permanente. I live in GA, and worked for KP for 5 years. I was in my late 20’s and was told by my doctor I needed to quit or find a new job because of my immense stress levels caused by work. Ironically to your situation I worked in the medical records department. Doctors work for Kaiser because they dont want to be faced with the pressures and malpractice possibilities with Private Practice. When I worked for them, they were still fairly new in GA and rarely allowed referrals to private doctors. Even when it was warranted. My Aunt has been a “Kaiserfornia” patient most of her senior years and as I read in one post was told way too late she was a diabetic and by that time had glaucoma. How could they not know she was a prime candidate for diabetes with a strong family history and weighing over 300 lbs?? Our GA Kaiser also had an experience with a pregnant mom that went into labor, went to the hospital, told to go home, and on the way home she progressed quickly. Dad turned the car around to go to the ER ended up delivering the baby at the entrance to the ER. The baby didnt live. Tragic.
I, myself, feel your loss. I am the mother of 6 angels. I worked as a representative for Remembering Our Babies which encourages education about Pregnancy and Infant loss. They recently were successful in receiving a Presidential proclamation declaring October 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I wrote the Mission Statement for the group. Although I am retired from this group, I encourage you to check it out. The group is full of moms around the world who share their stories of loss, pain, encourage each other, and some become great friends. The group was started by some amazing women who lost children of their own. I lived in silence for so many years through my losses. I applaud you for putting your daughter Lehna’s story out there and not giving up. It took me 13 years to name all of my children. I had one counselor out of 4 (KP counselors would never “acknowledge” my losses in sessions) and the mothers of my online support group that helped me find the will to go on and realize, even without them I will always be their mother. You and I share a unique gift in that God gave us this children to nurture…children that became Angels too soon. We’re angel moms. My heart and prayers are with you. Your daughter is beautiful. I hope she says hi to my kids, Sammi-Gayle, Hannah, Christian, Adam, Jacob, and Carly Mee. Hugs to you.
http://www.October15th.com
Hi Tracy,
Wow. What can I say to you? An Angel Mom, 6 times over?
My heart truly goes out to you. What a trooper you are. I don’t know how you get out of bed in the morning. Maybe it’s comforting to know that all of your little Beauties are together in such a comforting place? I just know our little Baby Angels are dancing and singing and getting us through. I think we will be rewarded some day when we get to hold them in our arms. I live for that day.
Thank You for such kind words and for letting me know about October 15th. What a beautiful web site! And BUTTERFLIES!!! I have to tell you a story about Lehna and Butterflies… Before Lehna died and was born I kept thinking how much I wanted to take her strolling in her fancy little pink stroller that we bought for her. (Her stroller perfectly matched her fancy little pink car seat too.) I was so looking forward to taking my beautiful little Lehna strolling out in the nice spring air. For some reason I kept thinking that I would drive her down to Pacific Grove California. We needed to go to Pacific Grove for an afternoon of strolling. Well, of course, you know she died before we ever got to do that. It was all just a beautiful fantasy. Shortly after she was born, I became very conscious of butterflies all around me. Not necessarily real butterflies but everywhere I looked I saw butterflies. I walked out of my house one day and it was pouring down rain and I was so heartbroken and sad and a man walked up to me in my driveway and handed me a flyer with butterflies on it. Butterflies just really spoke to me from that point on. I kept thinking that I needed to go to Pacific Grove. I just needed to go. Andy, Elise and I drove down one day and guess what? We were surrounded by butterflies. They were everywhere! Pacific Grove is Butterfly town USA. I started painting butterflies after that.
When I went to the October15th website I instantly felt Lehna and her beautiful pure little spirit right there with the beautiful little butterflies and all of the other little Angel babies.
Thank You Tracy for bringing this to my attention. Thank You. And by the way, I live in Ga now too. God Bless You and Big, Big hugs to you. Please keep in touch! I will be a frequent visitor of http://www.October15th.com.
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.
I still get the emails from babycenter.com because they remind me of all of the milestones that Lehna would have reached. I get to pretend, just for a moment, that she’s here with me. Lehna would be 22 months old now.
My Toddler This Week:
Hello, Beth!
When your toddler whines for something, you may feel like caving in just to hush that grating voice. But it’s best to hold your ground ? if you can show your toddler that whining won’t get him anywhere, he’s more likely to give it up and try other ways of communicating. Where to start? When you hear your child whining, gently point it out to him and ask him to use his regular voice. Toddlers don’t always know what whining is, and they may not be able to hear it in their own voice.
>> This Week: Limiting the afternoon nap, and climbing out of the crib
If only I could hear Lehna whine.
ISSUE: How often have attorneys representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases encountered “lost” or “missing” records, so called? How often are the “lost” or “missing” records at the very heart of the alleged misfeasance or nonfeasance? There seems to be a recurring theme. Time after time, when significant portions of medical records are either “lost” or “missing.” So it is with jaundiced eye that plaintiffs’ attorneys (as well as some judges and juries) look at such claims by hospital officials.
Today is Lehna’s 2nd Birthday. We just wanted to wish our Angel a Happy Birthday.
Happy 2nd Birthday Lehna-bug!
Mom, Elise, Willy, Joy-Joy, Sugar, PJ, Acrobat, Pepsi, and Sunshine
Happy 2nd Birthday Lehna-bug!!!
Mom and Elise
i know exactly what you went through. i too, had lost my baby girl, and, it was pretty much the same deal with the hospital. i know how hard it is. i still think about her every day. she would have been 4 on jan 18.
if you ever need anyone to talk to, i’m here.
Thank You Charity and Bless You and Your Beautiful Little Angel.
what happened to you and andrew??? so, not only did Kaiser destroy your child, and your personal life, but they were allowed to destroy the sanctuary of the very home that created your child and your life in the first place??? whoa.
Pia, you can chalk that up to kaiser. There is one thing kaiser is good at and that is, destroying lives.
This was posted on cafemom.com site and I had to come and just say i’m so sorry for your loss, and thank you for sharing your story, I hope you find closure and I hope they are held responsible.
i cant believe a hospital can be so careless i was very upset when i read this story how can they just lose records, lehna is a very beautiful girl i too lost a baby due to hospital negligiance! i was 36 weeks gone in as he wasnt moving and was told is because there was less room i wasnt put on monitors none listened to his heartbeat the very nxt day i knew something was wrong so i went bk to the hospital and i refused to leave untill the checked him just to be told he was gone.. turns out the less movement was due to the fact he had knotted his cord the hospital could have caught this but didnt even bother to look so i kind of know how u feel but not to the point where i can say oh yea we have something in common.. i hope Lehna is playing with my Little Braydon
Braydon Dustin Bradley 04/5/2005-04/6/2005
I hope Little Braydon and Little Lehna have found each other too! Bless You and your Little Braydon, Annastacia. My heart truly goes out to you. Hang in there, we’ll get our reward for doing so, someday.
Steph, Thanks so much for visiting and Thank You so much for your condolences! I hope that Kaiser will be held accountable too. Kaiser has created so many victims and any justice served in my situation would be shared with all the many kaiser victims who were not able to attain any kind of justice.
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I AM SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPEND TO YOU THAT IS TERRIBLE I CANT EVEN IMAGINE OR DO I REALLY EVEN NO WHAT TO SAY BUT IM SO SORRY I HAVE A 2 YEAR OLD AND A 1 YEAR OLD AND I DO IT BY MYSELF MY FIANCE DIED BEFORE HIS SECOND SOM WAS BORN AND BEFORE WE WERE ABLE TO GET MARIED BUT YOUR STORY WAS VERY SAD AND MY CONDOLINCES AND LOVE AND PRAYERS ARE OUT FOR YOU
I would like to send you all of Gods Angels to comfort you and your family.
I really apologize for what happened to you and your family, no one should encounter such horror. I too had a bad experience with Kaiser. My daughter was under a year old and I was determined to change that. I now have been working for Kaiser for almost 10 years. It has been a strugle and yes at times people make mistakes but people make Kaiser seem as if this is their goal. I currently work for Quality and we struggle to educate our staff, and try to implement policies and procedures so people are not affected like you have.
It is no excuse by no means for what happened to you and your family. I just feel that sometimes there is such a miss conception as a whole company. Me and my staff work hard to make sure people do their job, and politics are usually the reason you can’t fire them(for the dead wood they are!).
Just know that I struggle and am determined to change what I can. No one deserves what happened to you nor would it had happened if they were aware of how severe your case was. That is my thrive in this company. I want to make sure everyone in our service is respected and care for as if they were my mother, father, sister,children or myself.
This is something that I remind myself of everyday; with that in mind, I do my best.
My heart and soul goes out to your family.
My heart and soul go out to you. We just lost our 38 week old baby, Sean Nathan at Kaiser. He was stillborn. I am grieving and came across your website. I have so many questions and have begun the difficult investigation process. My family wishes yours all the love and support. God Bless.
Jay C, I am so very, very sorry for your loss.
If you would like to contact me, the kaiser thrive exposed admin can put you in contact with me.
My heart is with You and Your Beautiful Angel, God Bless You.
Wow… I was searching for graphics that said ‘Happy Birthday Beautiful’ and came across this. I am currently 6 1/2 mths pregnant with my 2nd son and I could not imagine going through what you’ve gone though. My heart truely goes out to you, your family, and any one else who has been directly affected by the passing of this child. My 1st son was born 7 1/2 wks premature without any reason as to why he was a preemie. Although being premature was the most major of his ailments, that in itself was enough to add a few thousand grey hairs to my head. A parent’s greatest fear is loosing a child but loosing a child due to lack of competence of the same people we entrust our childs life with has got to be absolutely devastating. There are no words that can express how I assume this has affected you or your family and friends. I pray that you will find peace in God and know that through his will justice will be done.
Hi Lehna’s Mom,
I am so sorry for your loss. I almost died after giving birth to my daughter in last year. I am going crazy trying to decide what to do. People have stated I need to sue Kaiser but I didn’t want to go through it all over again. My statue of limitations is soon to expire so I am wondering if you have any suggestions. I would love to get your opinion. If you have the time would you mind emailing me? Again, I am sorry for what you are your family went through.
Have you found any attorney willing to take your case? I have a friend who recently lost a child at Kaiser who like your daughter, should not have died. She too was a high risk pregnancy that was required to wait too long. The result devastating. I would appreciate any guidance you can offer in pursuing action against Kaiser so this terrible trail of devastation can finally come to an end.
Sandy
I am so sorry for your loss. I am a kaiser employee and they have wronged me with 2 miscarriages and years of infertility treatment because of their fault. They have zero compassion for patients and it is all about the money with them. Sometimes I am ashamed to work for them
please just also know your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Loss is so hard. I haveknown people who have gone through this and we have to lift one another up during times like this. May God help heal you and your family.
I feel for your family and for the loss of your baby girl. I had a similar experience, being an over 40 pregancy – not referred to high risk OB GYN, baby girl born with IUGR, respiratory distress, not crying and blue with APGAR scores “edited” to 6 and 9 (Blue baby not breathing has o be resuscitated should not merit an APAR of 6). She spent 8 days in NICU after being discovered in significant respiratoriy distress with respiratoru acidosis several hours after being transferred to “well-baby” nursery which was understaffed. Likewise, Kaiser has failed to produce myL&D records. No fetal heart rate strips. Kaiser MD’s claim her disabilities are not birth trauma or oxygen depletion related but genetic. Now that her eighth birthday is nearing, the statute of limitations is closing. The possibility of
publicly disclosing any sequence of events that may have contributed to her disability are slim. If nothing bad occurred then why can’t I have my records – all of them. As you say, you have a legal right to your health care records and a legal right to receive them in an unadulterated format. I would gladly join you in exposing the failures of the HMO system. Help us all if we had a National Health Care Program based on the Killer Perm Plan
Dear Cin, thanks for writing and i’m sorry to hear of your experience with Kaiser. It is highly likely that if your records are not being turned over then it is for good reason. I have heard of numerous kaiser cases where the babies were born compromised and the strips just magically vanished. As in my case, Kaiser had something to hide, like a deceleration that gave them cause for concern that they chose not to do anything about. They just let my Baby die. This looks intentional, to me. I wouldn’t bother with their rigged arbitration. I got a judge who was arrested for picking up a prostitute. Needless to say, I wonder how he has made his living the past several years. Do we dare speculate? He decided in Kaisers favor, wouldn’t you know. The evidence was there and so was the spoliation AND the lies in depositions AND under oath in front of the “judge” with poor judgement. I believe in the world of justice, this is referred to as illegal. But when kaiser is involved there is no such thing as justice, not through “the courts” anyway, because our right to a jury trial, which all Americans are entitled to, has been stripped away.
I will gladly join you in the continuing fight against this rotten HMO.
My oldest son was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in 2008, which was a level 1. Kaiser Permanente physicians decided to remove half of his colon and perform gastric-bypass surgery on the same day. Surgeon reduces his stomach to accommodate only 2 ounces of food. Please keep in mind that Kaiser Permanente’s medical staff did not suggest or offer any psychological counseling on which this procedure would altar his live. Shortly after having the procedure, the family’s medical plan was changed to A them Blue Cross and his care is being managed by U.C.L.A. Medical Center. As of January 29, 2009, he has lost 105 bounds and has not stabilized from the gastric-bypass surgery. The Oncology department of U.C.L.A has found cancer cell in his blood stream and has requested his medical records for five months now. According to a Medical record supervisor, his file has been tagged, “Do Not Forward Medical Records”. Doctors at U.C.L.A needed his medical records to identify the cancer moved from his body to have an ideal of their new findings. We went to Kaiser’s medical record department in person and were told that his Medical Records could not be found. Kaiser Permanente is a horrible organization to be apart of as a patient and employee. Just follow their tract records in the news and websites posting like this.
They have to provide the records by law. The procedure below may help you:
http://www.harp.org/recordmethod.htm
I am an employee of Kaiser Permanente and I just stumbled upon this blog by accident. I am truly horrified that these things have come to pass for your family and my heart goes out to you.
I was approved by Kaiser for a breast reduction and went to their required 2 hour class. At the end of that class they showed pictures of the plastic surgeries Kaiser plastic surgeons had done. Not one of them was perfect. Some one told me later that it was probably done that way to discourage would-be recipients of the surgery. I thought at the time that statement was blasphemous. But when I left that class I was sure of only ONE thing. Kaiser wasn’t going to touch me! I have heard many horror stories of Kaiser’s ineptitude and I didn’t want to be one of them.
Luckily, with my union, I don’t have to have Kaiser as my medical insurance. I now have Anthem Blue Cross Platinum Plus. I was thinking of switching back after my reduction, but after reading your story, I don’t believe I will EVER switch back!
My prayers go to you and your family. May love and light guide your way.
It’s almost Lehna’s 3rd Birthday. I was looking at the photos of my Beautiful Baby and I was thinking…she’s my Baby and she was stolen away.
I am not finished with Kaiser. I will never be finished with Kaiser.
Time does not always heal and people do not always forget. This is a warning to Kaiser.
Happy Birthday LehnaBug! You’re three years young!
I hope J.V. at Kaiser, the L&D “nurse” had a horribly rotten day yesterday and today. If it wasn’t for this witch, Lehna would most definitely be alive today.
Oh, and let’s not forget, kaiser and their horribly negligent protocol of NOT inducing labor. As Kaiser’s “expert” coldly explained in arbitration, “Some babies just have to die”…i’ve got it in my notes, word for word.
Can you believe that? I can.
I cant hold on my tears reading all the posts.
Happy birthday to this little angel.
I am so sorry to read about your experience with Kaiser. We lost a grandson years ago to still birth and of course it was not easy for all of us.He had the cord around his neck and died before his due date.
We go to Kaiser now and I am not happy with them and looking for another HMO. In late 70s
my aunt was taken to Kaiser by her sons wife because she could not keep food down–this went on for 3 weeks and the DR–Popko–sent them home with Malox until her DIL said I am not taking her home again you are keeping her in the hospital and find out what is wrong. Well it turned out she had a stangulated hernia and had gangrene–they did emergency surgery on her the same day. They left this huge hole in her abdomen because she started turning black they said on the table. She was in the hospital for 2 months and very weak. We went to see her one night and she was crying she was in so much pain. The Dr had ordered Xrays early that morning and told the nurses to leave her on her back until they could check the Xrays.It was then after 7PM. I told the nurses you need to turn her now as she could get pneumonia from not being turned. Of course they knew that and 2 days later she died with pneumonia. I believe they did not want to be bothered with her any longer.She was in her 60s–not exactly ancient. I tried to get my cousin to hire a lawyer but he worked for Kaiser and would not. He too is deceased now and was in Kaisers care then too.
We had a son born with brain damage from a nurse in the hospital where he was born–not Kaiser- but we have ahd a life time of grief
because of what she did to our son. Like you Beth if she is still alive I hope she had a miserable life just for all the trouble our son has had, and who knows how many more she affected. We did not sue but I wish we had as maybe that would have saved other babies.
I think these people are evil who cause these things to happen and then try to cover them up.
I know you will never get over the loss of your baby and it is so hard to forgive people who do these things and I have not found the strengh to do that either when I see my son and how this has nearly ruined his lfe.
God Bless.
Betty in Calif.
I am beside myself with anger and grief…. Happy Easter Little Lehna!
I am so sorry for your loss. I had Kaiser for the first time in my life and delivered my third baby on Feb. 19th in Walnut Creek. I experienced terrible pre-natal care. One thing that happened was I almost missed genetic defect tests because the NP did not schedule them (and I am 37, so these matter). Other things less significant, but always left me angry and frustrated. I too was dismissed when I believe I was going into early labor (but did not thankfully), and they told me not to bother even getting checked! I don’t know how Kaiser expects to give good care when you never see the same person twice for your pre-natal visits. You know what that does? It relieves the personal responsibility of the providers (doctors and nurse practitioners both), because they easily can say “oh, i’m not sure why so and so did that” Believe me, it happened to me SEVERAL times.
I suffered a herniated disk during my c-section, which apparently, according to them, had NOTHING to do with the surgery. I went into the surgery with mild sciatic pain from the weight of the baby, and came out of it UNABLE to walk. I am just recovering and it has been three months. They refused to accept responsibility IN ANY WAY and looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if the surgery might have caused the pain. They even refused to see me at the neurology clinic when I hobbled in unable to stand or walk without crying from pain. The nurses after the surgery repeatedly forgot to give me my pain meds so i was in excruciating pain and that caused my milk production to slow so my baby lost too much weight, had to stay longer. The nurses kept apologizing but said it was just too busy to keep track!! At first I had empathy but by the 4th day I just thought they were incompetent and I hated them almost all of them. Also, my epidural injection was done incorrectly and had to be re-done by another doctor after the first one mis-placed the needle (or something like that). In recovery they REFUSED to let me see a doctor, even though I was in excruciating pain from my back and wanted answers…they made me wait 24 hours!! They lied and told me there was no doctor on call. If I had not been so silly from the pain meds, I would have realized this is impossible…duh! But the nurse actually lied to me? Absurd. I could go on and on about how terrible the whole experience was from the very first OB visit to the day of discharge, and even since. I got BV 3 weeks back and later found out that the doctor put me on an anti-biotic that is not safe for breastfeeding!! In short, I HATE KAISER. I have yet to meet a doctor there that seems happy with their job, or confident in their job. The rest of the staff is completely unprofessional to the point of absurdity. I just wish they would go away forever.
Kaiser is essentially an evil company that by design just decides to sacrifice lives for money! Not only they are a criminal organization, they are a criminal organization that has many politicians in their pockets. I should know, I was one of the KP execs…but my moral principles did not allow me to continue participating in the lies, the cover ups and the intentional deceit and misuse of KP members. In reality, if you are a KP member, you best BEWARE…you are playing Russian Roulette every time you visit them.
I’ve also been an exec in other HMO’s but there is not even a shadow of comparison with the rampant corruption, cover-ups, deceit, intentional destruction of records and simple evil that happens at KP.
The fundamental problem with KP is that is a “closed loop” system that they vaunt to the world as the model of “integrated care delivery.” It is a closed system (and thankfully the only system in the USA) where one group of executive criminals OWN the whole thing – the doctors, the hospitals, the pharmacies, the nurses, etc. Since these criminals “own” the whole system, they set the rules and control the outcomes, the care that is provided.
KP is a big fraud, a ruthless for-profit, evil business that hides behind a “community based, not-for-profit” public face.
Fighting them in court is an option that sometimes work, but the biggest thing anyone of us can do is to expose them, to shame them and simply not choose them as a health plan. KP sooner or later will fall under its own weight and corruption. On a daily basis they knowingly, willingly and intentionally brake state and federal law and proceed to “cover their tracks”…but if you know where to look, they have to place to hide!
KP is losing membership and money. Calling the DHMC is a waste a time, KP has them on their pockets. If you have an issue with KP, call CMS and the OIG and keep shaming them in public.
Talk to all of your friends, and friends of friends and let them know that KP is a dangerous, uncaring and criminal organization that will not stop at anything to make money. Is this the kind of people you want to care for you and your family?
Here are some REAL examples (we have undisputable evidence of this): did you know that KP has done unauthorized genetic testing on ALL of its members without telling them they did? Did you know that the reason they did this was to decide what “kind of care is economically justified”? Did you know that KP has an “unwritten policy” that anyone approaching and/or at the age of 65 would be withheld medical care even if necessary because for KP it is more economically advantageous to let people at this age die rather than giving them care? Did you know that KP punishes physicians who are ethical and provide the care they deem necessary to their patients? Did you know that KP hospital deaths are significantly above the average norms of ANY hospital in the nation and the world?
These are some of the few things (and not the worst things) we know. If this is not an inherently EVIL organization, then what is?
Killing a baby to them is nothing. To them withholding required care is nothing. You want to bring justice to KP do the following:
1. Hit them where it hurts – if you are a member, choose another health plan. As bad as other HMO’s may be, they’re infinitely better than KP. Nothing is as EVIL as KP is…take it from someone that was an insider executive. Tell your friends, your neighbors, and your family, anyone you can!
2. Bring them to accountability – the best way to bring KP to accountability is for the members being aware and launching a nationwide campaign requesting the OIG/CMS and the Obama Administration to look into KP’s crimes.
3. KP is a ruthless for profit business – contact your congress person, the IRS and demand an explanation of why KP is a non-profit status when they own no less than 7 “for profit” wholly owned subsidiaries, including the Permanente Medical groups who pay themselves billions of dollars in bonuses, pension plans, etc. KP will tell you that their “not for profit” status is justified by the $1billion in annual “contributions” to the community. What they don’t tell you is that $1billion “donation” buys KP is a “get out of jail free card” worth at least $5billion in tax liabilities. Money the California state can desperately use.
4. Medicare Fraud – KP is rampant with Medicare fraud perpetuated by their false reporting on Medicare performance. Call CMS and request an audit on their performance. KP keeps two sets of books on Medicate performance – one set they use for internal purposes that show the problems, the other set they show to the government with all is peachy!
5. KP destroys evidence as routine practice – contrary to federal law requirements; KP is notorious in destroying, altering and “displacing” records and evidence. Call the federal government and launch complaints against KP under the newly enacted Federal Rules of Evidence 502.
Yes, it may be hard to fight the KP corruption, but if you know how to fight them you can succeed. KP is an organization that leaves by fear, intimidation, lies, conceit and plan evil and unethical behavior, but they are no invincible. If you know where the skeletons are, you can fight them. If enough voices are heard, then the Obama Administration will listen. Don’t lose heart…just be smart!
Kaiser Exec: Care to contact me?
Bless you all for this site. My heart is broken for Lehna and her family and the others who have been hurt due to Kaisers ineptness. I was a kaiser member for decades, then had to opt out early when a doctor in the er told me he would not touch my daughter (who was in the middle of a very bad asthma attack) because there were too many cooks in the pot. (Hard to see the same doctor twice because they are trying to save money by hiring part time physicians). I was flabbergasted right then and there. Kaiser Kills! My father two months after being diagnosed with colon cancer. Although he went to the doctor faithfully, he was having problems, but was told to drink prune juice–no testing whatsoever. Granted this was back in the 1980’s still there were other options available but since KP bases its medical decisions on how much money it will cost, I see that this continues to this day. Whenever I saw a thrive commercial I would get physically sick. Its more suited to be marketed as Kaiser JIVE. Bless You All
Lehna’s Mom, yes, I would want to contact you. Tell me how?
I sent you an email.
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I just spoke with Beth, Lehna’s mother — I am Lehna’s father and also a former “contract” executive with oversight over various components of the massively confused HealthConnect. I understand the business model too too well so I understand, in retrospect, why our beautiful daughter died.
I will go in on ANYTHING to expose them. I will talk to ANYONE . . . I have no career any more; it was sacrificed along with my daughter, and I, too, KNOW a lot.
Anybody, anywhere . . . I will do anything any one wants to put pressure on KP. Anything.
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Speechless. Words cannot express how sorry I am to read your tragic story. May God be with you and your family.
I am so sorry for you loss.. I know howlost and empty you feel, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in Feb 2005 she wasborn premature at 26 weeks, she passed away on March 11 2005.. a day I will never forget, the lost of a child u never “get over” you learn to live with over time but the pain is still there.. I wish you all the best in your lives and remember you have each other.. take care
Happy Fourth Birthday LehnaBug! Love, from Mom and Elise
I was just looking at the photos, what a stunning little girl. Such a cutie. My heart goes out to you. Love always Jasmine.xoxo
im sorry for the loss of your beautiful lil girl i hope that you get your answers and i hope the best for you and god bless
I agree! My son, Lagwendon Ray Scott Jr., died @ 1 year and 5 days on 02-04-2003. I strongly feel that Kaiser Bellflower and Harbor City Covered up the death of my son especially the pathology dept.I took a deposition with Kaiser Lawyers and they messed over me. I was not mentally competent at that time and it was obvious to them. They saw the opportunity to take advantage of me and they did. I was not educated with an issue like this and did not have money to hire a lawyer or medical expert. I am still grieving to this day and I am much smarter now. God bless you and your little girl and stay on top of Kaiser.
In addition to the my statement above, VITAL information was left out of the medical examination report, and it took Kaiser and there partner in crime MAYO CLINIC to long to provide me with the results. They said that no blood work was done and that no fluids were taken. I was like WHAT. They know they covered up. If I had the more I would resume my son from the grave and have his eye balls tested to see if there is some fluid left. I do not have any closure to this day and his pediatrician has not called me to this day. I wounder why.
hersheykissthis1@yahoo.com
This story brought me to tears- you deserved to bring your baby home healthy, and Kaiser took that away from you. Lehna deserved to come home to be with her family and grow up!!! I am so sad and angry- I can’t imagine how much angrier and sadder you both must be! She is a beautiful baby! I will pray for her and for you both often. I am a Kaiser member, and am currently struggling to get a diagnosis for chest pain that I have been having for 6 weeks.
Thanks to your story, I am leaving Kaiser in January. Thank you Lehna, because your story is causing me to leave Kaiser to protect my children, two sons. God Bless you Beth, Andrew, Elisa, Riana and Lehna.
Thank You Nicole for such a nice comment.
I am very relieved to hear that you are leaving Kaiser to protect your family. I think my little Lehna is looking out for you! I saw a license plate on a car tag yesterday with Lehna’s name on it. It brought me to tears, but I tried to take it as a happy sign that it’s not over yet, not until this fat lady sings.
I hope you can figure out why you are having chest pains. Please do not let them put you off with a CORRECT diagnosis. DO NOT.
My Best to You and Your Family,
Lehna’s Mom
She is beautiful. I am so sorry this happened to you, her, and your family. Thank you for sharing your story.
i just read your story and although it was awhile ago i still feel for your loss, March 2, 2011 i gave birth to my son Nicholas and he was a stillborn too, i was devastated for i was 9 months and only 3 weeks away from his due date 🙁
Jamie,
I am sooooo very sorry for your loss. I am sure that your world is very painful right now. Please surround yourself with loved ones who can take care of you the way you should be taken care of. I know I did not want to be alone right after our loss.
If it is any consolation, it does get easier as the years go by, but we never, ever forget our little angels.
My heart is with you.
Beth
Lehna’s Mom
Dear Beth {beautiful Lehnas Mom}. My heart aches for you, as it aches for our own baby boy Mathew who died for some unknown reason at 35 weeks. I gave birth to him two days later {June 22 2011}, and he was so beautiful, rosey red cheeks, little cherub lips, his daddys eyes and ears, and Mummys nose. I know how it feels to come home with such empty arms, a gaping whole in your heart that noone can fill, the endless tears with every part of your being screaming WHY! He was our only child {I am 42} and the hurt is so painful I don’t know how I’ll ever cope. But to have to go through all you’ve had to on top of your grief is incredibly cruel. No amount of time can take away those memories. All I can say is I’m so sorry for you and little Lehna. May the souls of our little ones connect while being carefully watched over by our Heavenly Father.
An angel in the book of life wrote down our babies birth
And whispered as he closed the book
Too beautiful for this earth xoxoxox
Dear Lehna’s mom,
I am so very sorry for you loss. I stumbled upon the story in my research for my medical assisting class and it brought me to tears. I am 31 weeks pregnant with a little girl and could not imagine what i would do if i lost her.
We just recently lost my little cousin to medical negligence. She was 2 months old and she started running a fever and so they took her to the doctor. They too sent her home saying nothing was wrong she just had a cold. A week later they went back because she could not hold anything down. They tried to send them home again but this time my aunt refused to leave. They checked her out and they found out that her fever was 103. They took her to the NICU and they diagnosed her with pneumonia. She died 2 days later. Her death to could have been avoided if the doctors would have taken a little time and cared enough to save her life.
My heart goes out to you and you family. I know your little angel is looking down from heaven. Take comfort in the fact that you will see her again in heaven.
Again I am so sorrry!
Dearest Mrs. Brewer, I am so sorry for your loss. I stumbled across your story by accident and it brought tears to my eyes. I have not felt the lost of a child, and I have 5 beautiful children. But, reading your story made me think of my Joseph. Back in 1987 I could have lost him like you. He was 3 weeks over due. I did not have Kaiser at the time, but I had the Chief OB doctor at our local hospital. He kept me coming in every week and saying the same thing, wait another week. I already had my little girl and I was getting scared. By the 3rd week I had stopped feeling him move. the doctor did a stress test and found I had no constructions so he did an induction, emergency of coarse. But when I failed to have any contractions again he told me my placenta separated and had to take my baby by c-section. Joseph was sick and had to stay in the hospital because of his lungs having stool in them. I was so glad at having my baby i never filed a complaint. May you feel all the prayers and love from your little lehna who shines down on you
Wow
Words cannot POSSIBLY begin to touch on what your family has gone through.
I pray for your family and hope that God brings healing to you.
Dear Brewer family, I am so sorry about the loss of your baby. I lost a baby boy who was born premature(in my 5th month of pregnancy.)He was born in my car outside Walnut Creek Kaisier emergancy room. He was very much alive, breathing, and crying. The doctor was expecting us and got to us just in time. Baby was taken to Martinez kaisier by ambulance due to advanced equipement for premies. My baby lived for 1 day. I was told that he had a cardiac arrest due to the oxygen machine being too powerful for his premature lungs, causing a hole in his lung. They said he was revived, but again went into cardiac arrest, at which time they decided to let him go. Stating all the medical problems he could be left with had they revived him again. This happened in 1997, and when I read your story the pain of it all came back to me again. I really do feel your pain. My husband and I both held our only baby boy and took pictures with him also. And cried and cried and cried. You keep wishing it is all a nightmare you can
just wake up from. Your description of the delivery was described so well. I was in the delivery ward. My baby had died. All oyher new moms were holding their new babies. Celebrating. Laughing. Visiting. While my room was dark and cold.You described it perfectly, the sights, the sounds. the pain, is never forgotten. My baby was dead. How could life just go on as usual. How could the sun still shine. Moms were picking out outfits for babies first picture. I was picking out a burial outfit. Such a horrible nightmare it seemed it couldnt be real. Hard to breathe. Nurses comments that “Dont worry dear, your still young, you could have another.” How comforting. This all happened years ago. As you probibly know, the pain never goes away. With time, you just dont think about it less often. I hope the sun, can soon, shine again for you. Tammy Brown
I stumbled upon this page while trying to find a way to get old medical records of my own. In 1994 my little sister was about to be a teenage mom. She had to have a amniocentesis because of it. A little less then a week later she lost her mucus plug and was leaking fluid. She was rushed to Bess Kaiser Permente in Portland Oregon. My sister was put on bed rest. On April 7,1994 she told the nurses that something did not seem right. They did not listen to her. The next morning she felt a gush of fluids. Again she told the nurses. The ignored her and put it off as a teenage mother who had no clue what was going on. Hours went by. That afternoon they put monitors on her to check the baby only to discover that the baby was in major distress. My sister was rushed into surgery for an emergency c section. She said they had her out before she even made it to delivery. Little Savannah was born a month and a half early. Under normal circumstances had they had done something right away she would have had a better chance. 45 min after she was born she took her last breath and her weak heart stopped. My sister never got to hold her daughter while alive. She has pictures of her holding her after she had passed. I will never forget the look in my sisters eyes. Our mom made a gown and bonnet meant for a baby doll for Savannah Michelle. Every year on April 8th we are at her grave site. To this day, I still tell her story and how Kaiser killed my niece. Savannah has a little sister now who will never know her big sister. My daughters will never know their older cousin. My sister will never see Savannah on her first date, or hear about her first kiss, or be able to see her get married. kaiser kills people. This I know to be true.
Reading your story broke my heart. Your Kaiser did not listen and because of it your little angel is not here. It is so wrong on many levels. Even though I have not lost a baby of my own, I know how you feel. You were robbed on so many accounts. The only thing we can be kinda happy about it that Bess Kaiser is no longer a hospital, they were forced to close because of high newborn death rates. They are now an office.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss she was a very beautiful baby and as a Mother of a deceased special needs child I am disgusted by them referring to her as a NON Event she was Human Gods creation and she deserved a chance at life as did out Mother and Fathers gave us again I’m very sorry.
Jews believe that life starts at conception. And that is why life is so valued in Judaism, as each development of a fetus is tied to a Jewish Feast of God. When Jesus was conceived on 9/11 3BC there was a sign in the Heavens. So for these people to say your baby was a NON EVENT, this is what I call Educated Barbarianism. The more educated doctors get, it seems that the less they are interested in actual life.
So long ago your precious miracle was stolen away from you. God bless your family. Always in my prayers. Little Lehna would be six this year. Happy birthday sweet angel.
I am so sorry to hear of this tragedy and the many others I witnessed while working at Killer Kaiser. I worked for Kaiser for 7-1/2 years, and I am surprised I survived as long there as I did. The bad care, the racism in the delivery (or lack thereof) care was too much for me. Now I remember how I lasted …I was off work for 18 months of that time because of the harassment and pain my stupervisors put me through while trying to provide compassionate and individualized care. Health care providers who manage to keep a career at Kaiser seem to be there just to “get by”, and get by they do. I warn everybody who is considering that as insurance, “Don’t do it.”
oh my, my heart goes out to you so deeply. I am glad people are still so touched by your story.
I found your posts when searching google for the best way to get my own records from the 1950’s. Kaiser claims they keep all medical records “indefinitely”, but clearly this is not the case.
I was born without platelets due to a condition in my mother’s body (though I produced them after birth). I also had a pneumonia or other upper respiratory infection. I started my life in the NICU, and for weeks Kaiser would not allow my mother, my parents in, to see me, to touch me, to hold me. And I suspect in those days, the nurses did not hold me either, except to perform medical procedures.
I have been told I was a sad infant who cried all the time. No surprise there. And I have had major depressive disorder that finally is treatable.
Well, I want my medical records from that time, prior to birth and neonatal. But I wonder too, whether these records have also been conveniently lost.
If you had so much trouble with the state of California “helping” you, then it might be impossible for me, except I was alive at birth. But with all those complications, Kaiser might have destroyed evidence of harm. Just the fact that I lay there like this, this thing in a box, for weeks, destroyed my life as I have lived it.
Unfortunately my mother is gone now. With mother’s day coming up, I can’t help but wish I had her still to recount the earliest days of my life, and have help in getting those all-important records.
I am crying for you, losing your precious baby. I am crying for me, starting life like I did. I am crying for all of us who have suffered at the hands of medical malpractice.
Because my birth was so long ago, and the only person who remembered is dead herself, I am now afraid I will never get this information that I believe is essential for me to understand where I came from, how I started.
I wish you the very best and hope that time has helped heal somewhat. I know the hurt and anger never really go away. That I can assure you of. And the mother baby bond is inseparable. I will always miss my own mother until I pass away myself.
But I thought, if I could just see what did happen during those early days, I might at least reconstruct the patterns of my life.
So help me, if Kaiser does not release all those records to me, I will also take strong action against them. They are evil, and I hear story after story, all excellent reasons to find other health care.
I do wish everyone the best, with this mother’s day coming up. Bless you all.
This is a sad story and I agree with you. Almost every woman I know that is a high risk pregnancy typically is induced early or on their due date and monitored exteremly carefully. This should not have happened to you. Its terrible to say that your baby was never born….Im sure they still charged you a delivery bill from the hospital and an OB bill but yet deny the birth of your daughter as a life and death. Its really a sad thing when you think about it. Do not ever give up on this! Keep fighting and please keep telling your story! I am from MN and you this story reached me so please keep reaching out. The birth and death of your child will not be in vein. She will have made a difference without even have made a breath in this world. There was a reason for her existance. Kaiser is a horrible hospital from what it sounds like and the more you talk about it the more people will come out of the wood work and start questioning them and they will lose patients and lose money and eventually sink themselves if not get a class action lawsuit! Your all in my prayers and I wish you the best. You really should start a blog. I would follow your progress!!!!!
Such a beautiful baby girl, such shameful stupidity. I’m so sorry to hear your story, but I hope your baby’s death is not in vain. You have raised awareness, now there has to be a change.
It has been 6 1/ years and I am not over it yet. What, really, can you say (
As she said, the law limited the liability to $250,000. Still they manufactured evidence with a fake fetal monitor to cover up wrong doing. The legal department in the organization if they know the case and it is strong will go ahead and settle. Now that they have the computer record it should be a little less easy to tamper with records. The lawyers look at “bits” on the computer file so that they can see if anything else exists in the file. However, the case has to be worth more to make looking at the computer bits worth it. Since most cases are less than $250,000 or less, I believe Kaiser has as much to hide about the many cases that are worth less than the one big case. However, the ability to spend money uncovering the coverup and record changing is difficult so Kaiser may know they can tamper with evidence and withhold evidence on the smaller cases.
Hi Leah,
Thanks for your post. Here is the rest of the story…
Finally, at the one year mark, just as my statute of limitations was set to expire, I found a lawyer to take my case. I had been turned down by lawyer after lawyer. Since my baby died, she wasn’t worth enough money for most california lawyers, thanks to MICRA. If she had been born alive with brain damage or other complications, she would have been a goldmine to malpractice lawyers. So you see, this is why Kaiser let her die. They knew she would cost too much if she was born compromised, which I believe, they were all too aware of. Kaiser’s own expert witness testified that if my baby had been born alive, she would have been born with an element of brain damage. Kaiser took it upon themselves to let her die in utero by sending me away on 3 separate occasions when she should have been induced. SO AS FOR THE FETAL MONITOR STRIP…Kaiser was able to prove in arbitration that this was my strip. THE REASON it did not have any identifying information on it was that the monitor had been malfunctioning and normally the nurse would go in and hand key in the patient information. She did not do it for me on this day because she admitted that she was “ALARMED AT WHAT SHE SAW ON THE MONITOR” and she left the room to get the doctor. They knew that day that baby Lehna was in trouble but they let her die. THEY ADMITTED THIS IN FRONT OF THE CORRUPT JUDGE (who had been arrested for picking up a prostitute and for drunk driving). HE STILL DECIDED IN KAISERS FAVOR EVEN KNOWING THEY INTENTIONALLY LET BABY LEHNA DIE. This is what Kaiser does on a regular basis. They are not a health care provider, they are a healthcare witholder. They literally kill people.
I wish I would have researched kaiser before I experienced something similar. I will ask for my med records when I go for postpartum check up see how that goes. I went on 12/27/12 to triage telling them I hardly felt bby move they did ultrasound no stress test and said I had anterior placenta and I was ok. I kept telling them I always felt her a lot even though I had ap but they said she ok days later I went again and she had no heartbeat. I think if they would have listened to my instincts and done more she would have been alive. When I delivered I was so upset no dr came to answer my questions or to check me. I only saw dr when I deliver and that’s it. The nurses just kept saying “these things happen sometimes for no known reason”.
Dear Cindy,
Words cannot express how sorry I am to hear of your loss. Please call me if you would like to talk. The Admin can put you in touch with me.
I am very, very sorry for your loss.
Beth
Lehna’s Mom
Dear Lehna’s mom (Ms. Beth)
I have read your case over and over and I am so sorry that this has happened to you and your family. I can only imagine the pain you felt then and continue to feel do to the lack of kaiser ability to help you out ethically…
I am currently taking an Ethics Mangement class at the University and I chose your story to do a case study. I have learned so much just by reading what you have written and the fight you and your husband have had to go through with Kaiser. And I have to say you guys are amazing team.
I would like to help other women out from going through what you have been through. And I would like to ask you 2 question, if I may? What would you have done differently? And do you feel there is still unresolved issues with your case?
I would like to Thank you for making your story public I know that alot of women are going to learn from your experience. It is so amazing to know that you are such a fighter for your daughter.. I dont know if I would have had the courage to fight this huge battle but you have done an amazing job. Thank You for your fight.
Hope to hear from you.
Cynthia…
Dear Cynthia,
Thank you. Thank you for such kind, thoughtful, hopeful, appreciative, and heartfelt words. I cannot even begin to describe how much your note means to me, and I am deeply touched.
I must say, my fight is not over. It will never be over. It can never be over. What we experienced with Kaiser was so completely ethically and morally wrong. Our loss of Lehna and our experience with Kaiser was and is not an isolated incident. As this website can attest, Kaiser has produced many, many victims over the years and will continue to produce many more victims if drastic changes are not made at the very root of Kaiser’s business model. To me, Kaiser represents all that is wrong with the world. Pure greed. Kaiser was started so they could make money by witholding care. And that is exactly what they do.
I am going to try and answer your two questions as simply as possible. This might not be so easy since I have a lot to say about our loss and our experience with Kaiser.
What would I have done differently?
I WOULD NOT HAVE GONE TO KAISER FOR OUR CARE. I strongly believe that had we not gone to Kaiser for our “care” our little Lehna would be a beautiful, lively little seven-year old girl. We
started our care at John Muir (health care) before leaving to go to Kaiser because it was more affordable. When I told the nurse that we were leaving their private practice to go to Kaiser, she looked at me and asked “Are you SURE you want to do that?” Boy, oh boy, do I wish that I would have asked her at that time what she meant by that. I was not familiar with Kaiser. We truly learned the hard way. I wish that I would have done much more research. I would have found this website. I would have found all kinds of Kaiser horror stories. Our decision to go to Kaiser would have been different, more informed, and Lehna might very well be alive.
Do I feel there are still unresolved issues with my case?
Absolutely.
There are many. Many, many, unresolved issues with my case. How much would you like for me to elaborate?
I’m going to give you a list and if you have questions about any of these, I welcome the opportunity to elaborate.
1) I have issue with the so called care that we received. It was not care at all. It was exactly the opposite of care. Kaiser completely witheld care. They killed little Lehna by simply witholding care.
And they were extremely rude while doing it. We were treated very poorly.
2) I believe that Kaiser was aware ahead of time that Lehna was in trouble. Because of California’s malpractice cap, MICRA, letting Lehna die was a conscious decision on Kaisers part because it was actually cheaper to let her die. If she would have been born alive with an element of brain damage, then Kaiser could have been liable for possibly millions of dollars in lifetime care if they were found at fault. I believe they were all too aware of this fact. Later, during my ridiculous arbitration (which I elaborate more on below), Kaiser’s VERY OWN expert witness proved me right by testifying that had my baby been born alive, she would have been born with an element of brain damage. The nurse that sent me home the day my baby died in utero also testified that she was “ALARMED” at what she saw on the monitor. Well, why did they send me home? They should have sent me to the hospital right then and there and delivered. After all, I was a 40 year-old woman. Nationwide standard of care dictates that a woman of advanced maternal age should be deliverd at 39 weeks. I was ALMOST 42 WEEKS already. WAY PAST DUE.
3) I have issue with Kaiser’s mandatory binding arbitration. Mandatory Binding Arbitration should be illegal. Especially in matters regarding life and health.
4) Spoliation of Evidence. Kaiser can so easily tamper and withold medical records to try and exhaust the statute of limitations in malpractice cases. In California, there is no independent cause of action for spoliation of medical records. If they don’t turn over the records, then the victim will have a very difficult time finding a lawyer who will take the case because they can’t build a case.
5) California’s malpractice cap, MICRA. This cap is a license to NOT practice medicine and a death trap. Are you familiar with MICRA? This law needs to be abolished or greatly adjusted.
6) I highly suspect the judge presiding over my arbitration has been in Kaiser’s pocket for years. Of course he decided in Kaiser’s favor. Kaiser has been his meal ticket for years. They pay him, why would he decide in my favor? He would never get another case to arbitrate. Even after one of Kaiser’s witnesses admitted in front of the judge that she was alarmed at what she saw on the monitor…HE STILL DECIDED IN KAISER’S FAVOR. Kaiser knew my baby was in trouble and they sent her home to die. How can any judge say they were not at fault? Cha-ching for the judge.
7) I also want to point out that a few days before I was to get on a plane and fly to California for my arbitration I found out on the internet that the judge in my case had been arrested years back for drunk driving and soliciting a prostitute. He was forced to resign his judgeship. Like I said, I believe he made a living deciding Kaiser arbitration cases. Why wouldn’t he decide in Kaiser’s favor?
I could go on and on Cynthia with so many details of how things are unresolved. But, like I tell my friends, who don’t understand why I keep at this, it’s so hard to witness so many things that were just plain wrong. What Kaiser is doing is just WRONG. Ethically and morally WRONG, and at the expense of so many lives.
By the way, do you know that this country does not even have a damn Patient Bill of Rights yet??? This really blows my mind! George Bush vetoed the Patient Bill of Rights. We have an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights but i’ll be damned if we have a Patient Bill of Rights!
I could go on and on… as you can see Cynthia, I am still angry because, yes, there are a lot of unresolved issues.
I hope that you will share with me your case study. I would love to read it and I hope you know that I will be happy to talk more even though I have already given you an earful!
The Admin of this website, who by the way, is a TRUE HERO and a hero of mine, can put you in touch with me if you like.
I hope to hear from you and thank you again for your very kind words.
Beth
Lehna’s Mom
I sent Cynthia your email address.
Thank you.
sorry for your loss,i know this comment is all late but the thing about the child not being an “event”,is messed up because the baby still had life and a soul,and still human…
Hello, I’m so sorry you guys had to feel that pain, a pain in which no one can truly, whole heartedly, honestly say they know how u are hurting, unless they’ve experience this gut wrenching pain. U feel lost sometimes cause u can’t passed their departure, a departure in which u have no idea what happened. Why it happened. I in 2011, I was 8 mths.pregnant with Gestational Diabetes, Feb 19 is when he passed, but still inside me. & he was born Feb 22, I knew something wasn’t right, see if he wouldn’t have gone, @ 9 mths he would have been a 9 to 10 lb baby, so when he’d moiwe around he’d literally wake me out of sleep. When I eat it was 7×s my normal appetite, When I started feeling something wrong it was because my appetite had dropped, I’d push him around like I’d normally do, but no movement… I started panicking, but kinda calmed down because I had just been to the doctors to checking on him. So if there were something wrong they woulda said so. Two more days pass so on the 3 rd day my mother got me a heart monitor for the baby cause I had also started feeling pressure, it wasn’t painful but they’d literally take my breath away. So I listened & started crying to my mother, something is not right, if I was in labor there suppose to be pain right… My mom said not always every labor is different sometimes. So I tried the heart monitor again then I heard a heart beat (which come to find out was mine) but I wanted to be safe so I still went to the hospital, when the nurse get a heart beat left out the door not saying a word & the doctor came in, I just knew…… 02/22/15 my son Keymarion would have been 4, & to this day I don’t know wht happened.
& wow, what a coincidence, my last name is Brewer, & sister name Lena Brewer. Wow
Hi Keyonna,
I am so, so sorry for your loss. My heart is aching for you.
As you know, Birthdays are very difficult. Happy Birthday sweet, beautiful Keymarion. I hope you can celebrate his birthday in some special way. You have an angel watching over you, I am sure.
That is quite a coincidence about your last name and your sister, WOW. Wow, and wow. Pretty amazing.
Thank you so much for writing and God Bless you and Keymarion.
Hugs to you, Beth
Hi Beth,
It’s been a while since we communicated but we think of you often.
I respect you so much for the fight you continue to wage against corrup Kaiser.
There’s not a week that goes by that we don’t think about the negligence that happened in Sean’s case.
We miss him daily.
Best to you & yours always
Your friends
Jack &Donna
I know what they did to your baby they did it to mine but mine was born alive and the nurse and doctor did nothing to try to save him he was taken across the room long enough to suffocate then brought back to me dead i delivered him at 25 weeks i need to speak with you please call me 714 472-9889
To Lehna’s Mom,
Would you kindly contact me please? Thank you.
Jupirena Stein
808 577 4544. but I live in Silver Spring, Maryland
Jupirenastein@iCloud.com