Kaiser Patient Alleges Severe Mistreatment
By WILLIAM DOTINGA
Courthouse News Service
February 10, 2012
LOS ANGELES (CN) - Kaiser Hospital kept a longtime patient suffering from
stroke-like symptoms in a storage room, lying in his own excrement, and abused him,
the man claims in Superior Court.
Kaiser personnel at the Baldwin Park facility allegedly believed David Stanley was
"homeless" and "a drug addict looking to 'score' drugs."
The suit names as defendants the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan; its contractor,,
Securitas Security Services of America; and Dr. David Kim.
Stanley says that he had regularly been treated by Kaiser for medical conditions,
including diabetes, after his stroke in December 2010. After waking to find that he
could not move his legs on Feb. 2, 2011, he took an ambulance to Baldwin Park,
according to the complaint.
But Kaiser employees allegedly told Stanley that "they could not find his name 'in
their system'" and refused to believe the patient's claims that his wife would soon
arrive with his Kaiser membership card.
"On a number of occasions, employees of Kaiser [including a doctor, later
identified as defendant Kim] told plaintiff he was lying and that 'there was no one out
there for him,'" the complaint states (brackets in original).
Refusing to treat him, Kaiser employees allegedly left Stanley on a gurney in the
hallway. He "heard various Kaiser employees [both to his face and amongst
themselves] question his legitimacy as a patient and also complain that they were
being made late for their scheduled break," according to his complaint (brackets in
original).
"At one point, the emergency personnel who had transported plaintiff to the facility
and who had remained were accused of 'dumping' a homeless man at the facility
and were asked 'where did you find this guy,'" the complaint continues. "Emergency
personnel told Kaiser employees they had picked Stanley up at his home and that
he was not 'homeless.' At one point, the emergency personnel were told to 'get this
guy out of here' and take him to another hospital."
Kaiser personnel, including Dr. Kim, allegedly accused Stanley of inventing his
symptoms to secure drugs. Stanley "heard Kaiser personnel accuse him of being a
drug addict and claiming that his 'alleged symptoms' were the result of him 'detoxing'
and that they 'saw it all the time,'" according to his complaint.
Stanley continued to insist he was a legitimate patient and begged for hospital
staff to look for his wife in the waiting area. He says they responded by pushing his
gurney "around a corner away from the Kaiser personnel."
"While waiting to be treated, plaintiff began to experience extreme gastric distress
and believed he would soon lose control of his bowels," the complaint states.
"Plaintiff repeatedly requested that he be helped to the bathroom or that he be given
a bedpan so that he would not soil himself. His requests were ignored and eventually
plaintiff lost control of his bowels and soiled himself. Thereafter, plaintiff repeatedly
requested that he be cleaned up. Again, his requests were ignored (one nurse
stated, 'don't worry about it') and he was left sitting in a hallway, in full view of others."
"While waiting for someone at Kaiser to show him any care or kindness
whatsoever, plaintiff heard numerous Kaiser employees accuse him of being,
amongst other things, homeless, a drug addict looking to 'score' drugs and a liar,"
the complaint states. "Eventually, understandably frustrated, plaintiff began to raise
his voice, insisting that he be treated. Kim told him that, unless he 'shut up,' security
and/or the police would be called and plaintiff would be forcibly removed from the
facility. In one exchange, after plaintiff grew more frustrated, a nurse told plaintiff,
'you can lay there in your own shit.'"
Staffers eventually moved Stanley to an examination room that was being used to
store supplies, he says. But Kaiser employees allegedly refused to treat him or clean
him. He was "left alone in the room, covered in his own excrement," he says.
Deciding to get up and find his wife, Stanley allegedly began yelling for Kaiser
personnel to help him.
"As he began to stand, supporting himself with a chair, Kim entered the room
followed by 2-3 guards and 2 nurses," the complaint states. "One of the guards
[named co-defendant John Gonzalez] yelled, 'he's gonna charge' and immediately
rushed plaintiff and tackled him, driving plaintiff into the wall and kneeing plaintiff in
the midsection. Plaintiff's head struck the wall and his arm was scraped as he fell to
the floor, with Gonzalez on top of him. Kim yelled 'get off of him,' but once plaintiff
was on the floor, Gonzalez continued to hit and kick plaintiff, who was defenseless.
Thereafter, someone yelled 'get up,' plaintiff indicated that he could not get up and
that he was injured. Plaintiff's injuries were significant enough to leave blood on the
wall and floor."
Stanley says that Kaiser employees then told him to stay where he was. They left
him "lying on the floor, covered with his own excrement and now bloodied," the
complaint says.
An orderly was charged with watching Stanley, but no one attended to his wounds
or treated him, Stanley says.
After persuading the orderly to find Stanley's wife in the waiting room, the worker
allegedly returned in minutes with Stanley's wife and his Kaiser identification card.
"The attitude of the Kaiser employees instantly changed," Stanley says. He was
"immediately taken to another area, where he was cleaned and was given treatment
for his complaints ... [and] provided with a bedpan and hot towels."
"Employees of Kaiser also immediately began to clean the area where plaintiff had
been assaulted, attempting to clean up all evidence of excrement and blood from the
floor and walls," Stanley alleges...
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