Tell your Senators to Oppose H.R. 6082
On June 13, 2014, my significant other was crushed under a ten ton cement wall while working at a high school. During his 5 week hospital stay, a person from the behavioral health unit of the hospital came in and started asking him substance related questions. She did not give him any kind of informed consent. He had just been crushed and felt like he didn’t have any reason to lie. He admitted use of substances almost 7 years in the past. She diagnosed him with the worst substance diagnosis that is in the DSM IV and put it on his open medical record for every doctor to see. He didn’t understand that he had been diagnosed, had no recourse to protect himself, and the insurance company, adjuster, their nurse case manager, and their attorneys all got the information before he was even discharged from the hospital. This information should have fallen under Federal protections, yet it was intentionally violated to do as much damage to him as they possibly could.
During his entire hospital stay, he told nurses that he felt like he was having a heart attack, he suffered a pneumopericardium, and yet no cardiologist was ever called in to evaluate him. He texted me, telling me he had crushing heart pain, asking me to get him out of the hospital and take him somewhere else because they weren’t doing anything.
After he was released from the hospital, he continued to suffer from breathlessness, syncope episodes, sensitivity to light, heat, and sound, and numerous other complaints. Every doctor we attempted to see treated him with disdain upon looking at the hospital records.
In March, 2016, he was sent for a pre-surgery EKG, which showed “old myocardial infarction, inferior heart damage”. When we went to the only cardiology clinic in our state, the doctor had just talked to the adjuster, and came into the room visibly shaking. He listened to my significant others symptoms, and then said “are you trying to convince me of something here, BOSS? I think you’re lying to get social security of workers compensation.” We were both upset and told him the visit was over. I looked over and realized that the doctor was not looking at the numerous abnormal EKG’s, the record of the pneumopericardium, or any cardiology records at all. He was looking at the substance diagnosis, which by that time, one of the substances had been in remission for over 20 years, and one had been 9. I went to pick up the record he was looking at, and this 60 year old doctor grabbed my arm forcefully through my jacket, leaving a handprint. A substance use disorder in remission is covered by the Americans with Disabilities act, and under the law a person can’t be discriminated against. The problem is, this is not being enforced.
I went to the police to file a complaint. The police treated me like trash. When the officer went to talk with the doctor, he told the doctor that we were both paranoid and mentally ill. Even a person perceived as being mentally ill is covered under the Americans with disabilities act. The police officer is heard on tape laughing, telling the doctor he did nothing wrong.
Two weeks after this happened, we received a letter from the only cardiology clinic in Alaska that my significant other was trespassed from the clinic, and if we spoke about our experience to anyone, we would be sued. They went one step further, and the CEO of the company wrote a letter stating that we were just upset that the doctor did not agree that he had anything wrong with his heart. We were upset that his personal, federally protected records were being disclosed and redisclosed without his consent. We were upset that he was obviously being discriminated against for being honest. (He had never presented to any emergency room in any kind of overdose situation, so this was completely self reported). I was upset that a 60 year old man would think it was ok to grab a woman. Interestingly, the insurance company sent them to an employer medical evaluation a month after this happened. The cardiologist who saw him said that it was a rare and serious injury. She was affiliated with the hospital who failed to diagnose him. She was paid thousands of dollars to create a report about all of the reasons why his heart injury was not due to his work accident. She had integrity and refused to write a report.
We got a call from the Cardiologist's attorney a couple of days ago. He told me that nobody would believe that the doctor grabbed my arm, because the police didn’t arrest him. He told me that if I pursued this, I would be paying his fees when I lose. He told me several names to check out, telling me that he won a case against a man with paraplegia. He told me that he doesn’t lose, and nobody will believe me.
The legal abuse, pain and suffering that we have gone through due to the illegal release of his federally protected records for the past four years in totally indescribable. No amount of money will ever fix this. Now, millions of people are unaware that the Senate holds in their hands, a bill which could undermine their right to privacy. Patients deserve autonomy. They deserve to have informed consent. The real stakeholders of this bill are the patients, who have no idea about what is about to happen to them if this bill should pass. This bill will allow physicians to profile patients even more if it should pass.
I’ve been a patient advocate for many years. I’ve seen some things. Last year, my sister went to a rural hospital to have a large kidney stone removed. The doctor operated on the wrong kidney, repeatedly probing it, and not finding the stone. He sent her home and she started bleeding, passing large blood clots on the floor. She couldn’t stand because she was in so much pain. The doctor told her not to go to the emergency room, but an ambulance was called anyway. They found that he had damaged her good kidney. The doctor put her in the hospital and drugged her up for several...
