A Nevad HMO Horror Story-Patients Play Russian Roulette

THE KUHNS REPORT
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LAS VEGAS - Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

A bad experience with an HMO? Let's say I know a person that had one. That person is me.

I'm a senior senior citizen, who was showing my niece from Ohio around town. We were spending time at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas and out of the blue this strange man comes running through the casino like a bat out of hell and falls to the floor. People were just gawking. There were no security officers there when the man took his tumble and I thought possibly the man may have had a stroke or heart attack . I walked toward the fallen man to check on him but my feet were kicked out from under me by the man on the floor. I fell to the floor and briefly passed out. When I came to a few seconds later there were a few security guards around the man on the floor and one of them helped me to a seat at a bank of slot machines. I was then moved to a bench at the scene of the encounter.

I was experiencing pain in my legs and right hip. While I was giving a statement to the security men other witnesses said that the man that was running through the casino was "drunk" Some of the people reported that the drunk was playing at the craps table and was so inebriated that he was vomiting at the craps table. While my niece and I were talking to the security officers we heard the security man in change ask a colleague to return to the craps table and gather up the drunks $500. in chips.

It looked as thought the security team knew this guy because they stood him on his feet and told him to go to his room.

One of my main questions would be: Why did the casino and security staff allow this drunken man to gamble at a craps table and vomit there? And why would they let this man run willy-nilly through the casino in his stupor and condition? I would think he would be a danger to himself and possibly other patrons. He certainly was a danger to me - - Duh! Fractured hip because of this drunk. Could it be this drunk was spending a lot of money at the craps table and the casino and security staff turned a blind eye to the possible dangers so that they could continue to take his money? Who knows? Why wasn't this drunk escorted out of the casino by security hours before when it was obvious he was a drunken, slobbering, vomiting customer? If he had been I would never have suffered a fractured hip.

It certainly appeared security knew him when they finally showed up at the scene on the casino floor and retrieved his chips and told him to go to his room, escorting him there.

After filling out the report incident my niece and I left the casino. My niece had to help me walk through the casino to valet parking and she had to drive my vehicle home. It was a chore for me to slowly climb the flight of stairs to my apartment. I told his niece that the pain was very bad and I promised to check with a doctor the next day.

The next day, I did call the casino and asked the people in the risk department if they would send me for an x-ray, saying I still had a lot of pain. The casino refused my request, telling me, "you'll have to pay for your own x-rays."

Now comes the part dealing with an HMO. - - - -

Lets start this way, okay?

Question: If you're sick in Las Vegas , or for that fact, any city in Nevada,where do you go?
Answer: To the airport.

Christ, medical care in Nevada is rated near the bottom of any national list. It's not uncommon for many politician's and lawmakers in Nevada to make a run for the border like a rabbit to go out of state for their heath care . That said, - - -here's a true story.

I drove to the Medical Center run by my HMO. The drive was painful but I managed to get inside the facility. The male Physicians Assistant that met with me said they would take x-rays AND a CAT scan. The pain continued through both exams as the technicians maneuvered me around the x-ray table. The techs said, I know it hurts but we have to do it.

After the results came back the Physicians Assistant came into my exam room and said " there is nothing to worry about. All you have is a " hyper flexor muscle strain". I'm going to give you some muscle relaxers for the pain and prescribe a cane. I'll also give you a sheet of exercises to do. Put some ice on your hip when you get home and in two or three weeks you'll be okay."

An aide wheeled me to reception so I could pay for the visit. The receptionist told another aide to wheel me to my car which was parked in the parking lot across the driveway from the clinic entrance. The black female aide wheeled me away from the reception desk toward the entrance door. While she was doing so she told me: "I shouldn't have to be wheeling you anywhere because I'm pregnant and my baby comes first." "I should be taking care of myself and not wheeling you round." As soon as she got out the main door she stopped and said: "I'm going to let you walk from here." "My baby comes first." She told me to stand and walk across the street on my own. Question? If this aide was pregnant and too sick to work, why was she there? Why was she complaining to an injured patient why she shouldn't be doing the job she was hired to do? I was embarrassed by her comments but after she told me to leave the wheelchair I struggled to walk the long distance to my car. The aide walked back into the building with the empty wheelchair.

Two weeks went by and the pain became even worse as I walked about on my injured leg and while doing the physical exercises the Physician's Assistant told me to do. At the end of the third week I couldn't take the pain any more and returned to the HMO for help. As I entered the reception area they saw I was in pain and called for a wheelchair. I was taken to the examination room again.

This time a female doctor came into the exam room and after hearing about the situation she ordered another x-ray. Following the x-ray, she came back into the room and said "sorry, we made a mistake. You didn't have a hyper flexor muscle strain. Instead, you have a fractured hip. We missed it. You have been walking around and exercising on that fractured hip now for about three weeks so I'm going to send you to the hospital for surgery." I became really concerned and asked the doctor how the devil they could have missed a fractured hip, especially when they took not only x-rays but also a CAT scan. She didn't answer the question. All she said was "we're sorry"saying she would call a medical van to take me to the hospital.

I spent the night in a hospital bed and the next morning I was scheduled for, and had "hip surgery." One of the doctors that was assigned the case asked me about my situation and when I told him about how the doctors at the HMO misdiagnosed the fractured hip and said I only had a hyper flexor muscle strain the doctor just shook his head and said -"that's the problem with HMO's. A lot of them are bad.

After the surgery I was assigned nurse in-home care and then, out patient physical therapy over a period of months. I even wrote the director of the HMO about the bad treatment I had received by the HMO staff and the misdiagnosis of the hip fracture but my complaint fell on deaf ears. I did receive a letter from the HMO saying they were "sorry". That was it.

My observations: The HMO and it's staff did not attend to my medical condition with due diligence and further, the staff showed a total "callous indifference to my serious injury.

I mean, hey! I had a fractured hip and both the technicians and the Physician Assistant misread the x-rays and a CAT scan and gave me misdiagnosis, letting me walk around and do physical exercises on that fractured hip for approximately one month. Further, if I hadn't went back in and complained about the pain for a second time the HMO would have let me fend for myself with the fractured hip for God knows how long, or until the leg and hip broke into pieces. Then, what about that staff member who cried the blues to me about having to do her job. She was pregnant and refused to care for me telling me to get out of the wheel chair and walk a distance on my own with a broken hip.

I would suspect that there are many, many other stories about the bad treatment in HMO's across this country, and this is just one of those. Medical treatment in Nevada is bad enough but the HMO situation seems to be a dangerous place to seek medical assistance. Many people already seek medical care out of state but there are those that can't afford anything else but HMO treatment and they are stuck with it. Where's the recourse for these health care providers mistakes?

People, HMO's are scary places and it appears the doctors and staff really don't give a damn for their patients. It looks like all they care about is drawing their paycheck. - And, that's my opinion. Make your own decision. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com