A First-Hand Account Of Neglect At Kindred Los Angeles

Although not as extreme, I had similar problems at an east coast acute care hospital owned by the same company. I posted recently some of my notes at http://eldercarenotebook.blogspot.com/2009/06/acute-care-hospital-notes.html
I have another post coming along that links to your site, and I included your blog among my new ‘favorites’. I also have had some interesting experiences with that company’s billing maximization practices. After I complained, they doubled the billing charges, while reducing the actual care.
When I complained about my client’s care, referring to my notebook for examples, they prohibited me from looking “beneath the sheets” even though I was providing private CNA coverage.
They also actively tried to prevent my client’s transfer to a different ‘safe’ facility.
Regarding bedsores, I noticed that you have some excellent tips. There are additional measures that can be taken for prevention, including lotioning, sheepskin padding, and use of the beds that you mention.
Gertrude

Kristen-
Sorry to hear of your unsympathetic jury– it happens. Of course there are jurors who look at elder abuse cases and shrug their shoulders– but I find there are many more who truly sympathize with what the patient was experiencing.
Unfortunately, there are many patients at Kindred who are simply so ill that it’s difficult to differentiate who is related to illness v. abuse / mistreatment.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

At 11:20 am, February 6, 2012, Jan Paul Oller, a man 74 years young with a heart of gold passed away due to gross negligence.
Picture walking into a hospital expecting a week or two or rehab, and ending up on life support with acute multi-organ failure. And finally leaving in a mortuary van.
My uncle was admitted into Kindred Hospital with the intent of regaining his strength from a bout of pneumonia.
Upon being admitted, he was placed in a room with no heat for 3 days. He was given a heating blanket but the nurses had no idea how to operate it so they didn’t turn it on. He spent his nights shaking and his days sleeping. Due to this, he wasn’t given all of his medications, and wasn’t receiving regular meals. To top it all off, “dr” Samir Saxena left him anemic for 5 days. Needless to say, he ended up in the ICU.
To deal with his lack of nutrition, Mel, an attending nurse, decided to force a feeding tube in his nose despite his objections. The tube ended up scratching his nose and throat, and led to bleeding which would continue unto his death, due to his high INR.
While in the ICU, he was placed on 100% oxygen and after a few days naturally succumbed to oxygen toxicity. He was ultimately intubated. He was actually doing good. Good until he was fully sedated via Avitan, a highly potent yet dangerous drug when it comes to the elderly. A few days after being on a continuous Avitan drip, he developed kidney failure. The Levophed, Vancomycin, and other kidney damaging drugs not intended for extended use took their toll as well. He was constantly bombarded with antibiotics despite his blood showing no positive cultures. He was said to be in a state of sepsis without even having the symptoms.
Instead of stepping back and analyzing where they went wrong, Jan Paul Oller’s attending physicians decided to continue with the harsh therapies. My uncle was minimally responsive for 8 days due to the drugs his system was being flooded with. His health deteriorated and instead of trying to cleanse his system of the chemicals, he was placed on more iv drips. The amount of fluids they were pouring into him amounted to a net gain of over 30lbs. He was also succumbing to respiratory acidosis, a side effect common with ventilator use. The night before his death, he was left in a hypothermic state for more than 6 hours before they even gave him a heating blanket!
Hell, there was even a time when he was getting laxatives and anti-diarrhea medications at the same time. His chart was so thick and full of inconsistencies that doctors didn’t even know what was going on. His primary care physician, dr Beajow claimed his brain was “mush” while the neurologist said there nothing wrong with him from a neurological standpoint. Doctors accused him of having everything from lung cancer to heart failure. They poked and prodded him, and were so intent on treating him like a guinea pig for their trial and error experiments, that they forgot he was a loving, caring, beautiful human being in need of care.
The worst thing is, that after f*cking him up, the “doctors” and hospital administrators attempted to guilt trip his son and wife into pulling the plug on his life support.
When he finally did pass, it was due to cardiac arrest, no doubt brought on by the dangerous drug combinations being pounded into him.
When it came to providing CPR, Jon Rafael, his nurse, waited until his pulse was under 40. He left it in the 40s for a few hours, knowing full well that a pulse under 50 is life threatening and common hospital protocols would insist that CPR be given once it goes below 50. Was it a case of passive euthanasia?
To add insult to injury, the hospital claimed a coroner’s inquest would be impossible. After a few phone calls, our family found that to not be the case.
They say that too many cooks spoil the soup, well, too many doctors spoil your health.
Jan Paul Oller will be deeply missed by those of us who know and love him.
Unfortunately, the kind of “care” he received while at Kindred will continue to be received by other patients.
From what my cousin and aunt have said, many of the lower level employees aren’t even all too happy with the hospital and the poor quality of care that patients receive. Some of these doctors aren’t as beloved by their co-workers as they think they are.
Sadly though, as long as the American health care industry is staffed by “doctors” with third world, internationally unaccredited medical degrees, who lack basic compassion and ethics, and are simply motivated by coming to the US and earning more $$$ than they could ever imagine seeing in their third world cesspools, then this kind of involuntary euthanasia will be all too common in “American” hospitals.
I apologize for my rant, my medical degree is from Columbia, not Karachi Tech or Manila U. So what do I know!
R.I.P. dearest uncle, hopefully your death will not have been in vain.

My future father in law was killed at Kindred “Hospital”:
- He had a room with no heat and was suffering from pneumonia. 2 nurses who barely spoke English opened his window at 2 am, on a January night.
- He was freezing all night slept during the day. This became a pattern.
- He was left anemic for 4 days before he was given a transfusion.
- Mel San Pedro forced a feeding tube into his nose, causing him to bleed. He was left bleeding for 5 hours. His mouth, throat, and nose were full of crusted blood, making it impossible to breath. So he ended up intubated.
- He was put on ativan and completely sedated despite the family not wanting him fully sedated.
- He never woke up. The ativan, and all the drugs they gave him caused liver failure.
- Dr Mahfoud Beajow was of no help, all he said was that he has a weak heart and tried to convince the family to take him off life support. Yet he never called in a cardiologist, nor an endocrinologist despite the family requesting this.
- His nurse, Jon Rafael waited until his pulse was below 40 to start CPR. It was under 60 for close to 3 hours and despite the family’s pleading, the ICU staff would not do anything. By the time CPR was initiated, it was too late and he passed away.