Kaiser kidney transplant patients, families settle for $1M

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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Kaiser kidney transplant patients, families settle for $1M
Sacramento Business Journal - by Chris Rauber San Francisco Business Times

Five medical malpractice cases involving Kaiser Permanente’s now-defunct Northern California kidney transplant program in San Francisco have been settled for a total of $1 million, according to their Irvine-based attorney, who blamed flaws in California’s malpractice laws for the relatively small size of the settlements.

Three of the five cases were wrongful death cases, which alleged that Kaiser failed to provide transplant kidneys on a timely basis. In another case, the patient’s transplant allegedly was delayed by a year and a half due to the improper refusal of a donor kidney. In the fifth case, allegedly inappropriate post-transplant care contributed to the rejection of the transplanted organ.
 

Lawrence Eisenberg, a trial attorney at Lawrence S. Eisenberg & Associates, said the settlements involved transplant patients “who were improperly treated at the Kaiser Renal Transplant Center in San Francisco which was closed in 2006.”

Kaiser allegedly failed to provide proper oversight, transfer patients into the program properly, or provide access to medical specialists, Eisenberg said in an April 15 statement.

The state Department of Managed Health Care fined Oakland-based Kaiser $5 million due to problems with the transplant program, which was closed in the spring of 2005, after about a year and a half of operation. Transplant patients were transferred to UC San Francisco Medical Center and UC Davis Medical Center.

“We can confirm these cases have been settled,” Tony Rau, a spokesman for Kaiser’s Northern California region, told the San Francisco Business Times. “As we said at the time, we deeply regret the problems, difficulties and concern that some of our members experienced with transfers involving the San Francisco kidney transplant program. “

California’s medical malpractice law limits malpractice recovery awards to $250,000 per case, which Eisenberg described as an “arbitrary” ceiling, adding “These cases are a perfect illustration as to why the law in California needs to be changed.”

Federal and state regulators forced Kaiser to close its troubled kidney transplant center, which had about 1,900 patients on its waiting list, in May 2006. The center performed just 56 transplants in 2005, compared with approximately 168 each in 2004 and 2003, due to what regulators and critics called bungling and lack of proper oversight. Prior to September 2004, UCSF and UC Davis performed transplant surgeries for virtually all Kaiser kidney patients in the region.

Investigations by regulators found that many Kaiser patients spent added months or years on waiting lists for a new kidney without being credited for their long waits. Others died or had their conditions worsen during the period between late 2004 and May 2005, when the DMHC and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services required Kaiser to close the unit and transfer patients to other institutions. Additionally, investigators concluded, Kaiser lost track of records and in some cases kidney transplants were not performed, largely due to bureaucratic barriers and lack of oversight within the giant organization.

The state managed care agency later imposed a $2 million fine on Kaiser and required it to contribute $3 million to a nonprofit that encourages Californians to donate needed organs and tissues.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/04/13/daily56.html