justen

Michael Moore is ruffling more than a few feathers with SiCKO, his new movie which shines a (camera) spotlight on what’s wrong with healthcare in America. The movie doesn’t even open until Friday, but guess which healthcare organization already has its press release ready to go, saying its “portrayal” in SiCKO “must be addressed.” Yes, sadly, it’s Kaiser Permanente:

Voices that recently have joined the health care reform debate have incorrectly portrayed Kaiser Permanente and its history of championing health care excellence and availability in the United States. Kaiser Permanente has been a strong and steady proponent of high-quality, not-for-profit health care for 65 years. In this context, Kaiser Permanente’s portrayal in a new movie, “SiCKO,” must be addressed.

Now, before I actually get to Michael Moore’s lashing of Kaiser Permanente, I want to take this opportunity to advertise George Halvorson’s new book, Health Care Reform Now. It’s rather ironic. Think about it: George Halvorson wastes ridiculous amounts of non-profit member healthcare money in promoting his book. So it goes, naturally, that Mr. Halvorson is directing KP to use all its PR resources to promote his book, all the while claiming SiCKO is just all wrong when it comes to KP.

The irony, or honesty, depending on how you see it, continues on the website created especially for the book, where Halvorson is called “a thought leader on health care reform.” I guess you can’t call him an “action” leader, given Mr. Halvorson’s track record at HealthPartners in Minnesota, or at Kaiser Permanente. So, “thought leader”? Think of it as Mr. Halvorson’s way of saying “do as I think, not as I do.”

If George Halvorson’s abuse of his position at Kaiser Permanente isn’t enough to make you sick, the sad stories of Kaiser Permanente members in Michael Moore’s new movie will.

The horrific story of Mychelle Williams is a focus of the movie. Baby Mychelle, who was eighteen months old, “died of a treatable infection that a simple blood test would have detected.” The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights continues the story:

The facts in Mychelle’s case are harrowing: An ambulance picked the little girl up from her grandmother’s Compton home in May 1993 and took her to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the nearest hospital.

Dr. Trach Phoung Dang then gave Mychelle medication for her fever and other ailments and intravenous liquids for dehydration. He wanted to run blood tests to determine why the feverish, limp girl, who her mother said had been fine just hours earlier, was now so desperately ill. But the girl’s family belonged to the Kaiser health maintenance organization, and Kaiser’s Dr. Brian Thompson repeatedly told King/Drew that the tests should be done at Kaiser.

The telephone conversations between the doctors were tape-recorded by Kaiser, and according to a petition filed with the high court, Dang suggested three times that King do the tests before a transfer.

As the little girl’s condition deteriorated, her mother, Dawnelle Keys, now 37, pleaded with doctors for more aggressive treatment. But the child could not be given antibiotics until after a blood test, and wasn’t given the blood test because Kaiser wanted to do the tests…

By the time the toddler reached Kaiser — four hours after she arrived at King — she was near death. Her heart stopped about 20 minutes later, and she could not be revived.

Kaiser Permanente’s defense? Mychelle died “14 years ago. [Her death] was not [as a result of] the denial of coverage for necessary medical care, as the movie claims.”

The jury said the evidence showed otherwise, and found Kaiser Permanente liable for $338,250.

You can’t help but feel heartbroken for this poor little girl’s family. Well, unless you’re George Halvorson. You can’t help but feel disgusted that Mr. Halvorson would try to use (a fabrication) of this little girl’s story to sell his book. What a truly respectable “thought leader” Kaiser Permanente has in George Halvorson.