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HERE IS SARAH AND HER FAMILY'S AND FRIENDS' ACCOUNT OF EVENTS.
Bullets About The Sarah Nome Story
By Karen Nakamura
¥ Sarah's Kaiser membership has been paid by her employer for years and years. According to Sarah's daughter, Jane Sands, Kaiser shows Sarah with a zero balance, not $750,000. Perhaps the bill has been turned over to Mr. Flaxman for collection but Sarah has never seen any such paperwork. She is also eligible for Medicare. Her family says she has never used Medicare because she has full coverage through Kaiser. In fact, she has premium care, the highest tiered plan.
¥ Sarah has countersued claiming fraud on the part of Kaiser charging the bill has been highly inflated. For instance, she was billed for denture work she never received. As workmen's comp is also involved and paying, why the huge bill to Sarah?
¥ There's something more going on here. Ten years ago, a Kaiser doctor prescribed Cumadin, a blood thinner. Sarah wasn't monitored. Since then it has come to medical attention that Cumadin may cause leaching of the calcium from the bones. Sarah's doctor adamantly denies any co-correlation. If he's negligent in his diagnosis, Kaiser could be liable. Jane Sands thinks it's the crux of the problem.
¥ On August 8, 2002, Sarah collapsed in her kitchen breaking the femur bone in both legs. She was taken to Kaiser. Not x-rayed for two days, only the upper bones were imaged and nothing found. However, Sarah couldn't stand. On the fourth day, thankfully, Dr. Long insisted on x-raying the lower section. What he found caused him to recommend trauma care and surgery within 2 days. The bones looked like lacework according to Sands. Trauma care was required but not available in Marin.
¥ The Kaiser team said the legs needed to be amputated. Naturally, Sarah wanted a second opinion. She was accepted in Stanford Hospital for surgery but Kaiser balked, possibly because it would have to foot the bill and Stanford is expensive. A compromise sent her to UC Hospital Parnasus. The operation was successful and the legs saved. However, the surgery wasn't performed until Sept. 27, seven weeks later.
¥ According to Sarah and her daughter, while post-operative physical surgery was ordered, none was given at either of the two care facilities Sarah resided in after the operation or at Kaiser. Rather, Sarah developed ulceration on her backside at one home while her daughter complained about non-nutritious meals and theft of her mother's personal items.
¥ A curious thing happened during this time which would be relevant later. A man came into Sarah's room and complained that her papers on the floor were a fire hazard. Sarah made a flip remark that she'd have to be doing the lighting but she didn't have any matches and she couldn't get out of bed. Actually, the staff is paid to keep things clean and could have put the papers in Sarah's empty locker or asked the family to take them home. Jane said she would have brought in a file if she had known about the concern.
¥ At a certain point, Sarah's 180 days of coverage was up. One night in January of 2003, while waiting for dinner, Sarah was pinned to the bed by staff and injected with something. About an hour later she suffered heart failure. There appears to have been no follow through. She was taken to Marin General Hospital on a 5150 order, a psychiatric designation meaning she's a danger either to herself or others. No authorization has been found although a doctor is required to sign off.
¥ Sarah denies she caused any scene. Her mind is clear and rational. But at 82, she's being bombarded with one trauma after another. There is a side issue that weighs heavily on Sarah and her daughter. Sarah's son was handling finances for her estate comprised of some investments, a couple bank accounts and her home. The son, or his lawyer, got power of attorney, sold off the investments and closed the accounts. The son then moved to Hawaii. While the family backs the son, the FBI has been brought in. It does mean Sarah has lost half of her estate. If Kaiser takes the house, Sarah will have nothing.
¥ Jane says, "All we want is for my mom to be able to go home and live the rest of her life in peace. A caregiver could come in every day and that would be a lot less expensive than Kaiser."
¥ At no time has Sarah been offered grief counseling. Rather, Jane says, "They seemed to be bragging that they could do the amputation in ten minutes. Then they wanted me to bring her home a day after surgery. How could I handle anything so serious alone?"
¥ When Kaiser was trying to place Sarah in a care home, a staff member told Jane that Sarah would have to go to a locked facility miles away because no facility would have her. When Jane asked why, the answer was that the staff person had asked every local facility if they wanted a pyromaniac who didn't like paying her bill.
¥ In the meantime, Sarah has received no medical attention other than being fed and kept clean. She's received no physical therapy, no rehabilitation, been ostracized from local care facilities, is in danger of losing her home and has no lawyer. She's just been transferred to a single room and her precious TV taken away though she's paid in full and the machine isn't broken. The aide removing it said she'd receive a rebate. And, while she still has her Marin IJ daily, Jane wonders when they'll take that away too.
¥ Sarah has this to say. "I've been hospitalized since January 22, 2004 but in no way am I ill or in need of acute care. I was residing in a rest home when I was kidnapped. Two men came into my room, put me on a gurney, rolled me into an ambulance and drove me to Kaiser Hospital. That's where I've been ever since. I have not been able to find out what doctor admitted me or for what reason. Kaiser insurance and workmen's comp are paid to date. Therefore, the bill has been paid. I surmise the rest home could only bill for $300 a day while Kaiser can bill $3090É I'm a billable poker chip."