CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Blood Clot Hospital 10 Days $300,000 Medical Costs Side Effects Diag

0403 -
0403 -    ..
0404 - Summary/Objective
0405 -
040501 - Follow up ref SDS 3 0000.
040502 -
040503 -
040505 -  ..
0406 -
0407 -
0408 - Progress
0409 -
040901 - After meeting with Morris this morning on SDS, ref SDS 6 0001,
040902 - stopped and visited Richard in Campbell.
040904 -  ..
040905 - We went to lunch as his favorite restaraunt about a mile or so from
040906 - his house.
040908 -  ..
040909 - He has a car now and is driving.  This is a good sign of fighting to
040910 - get better.
040912 -  ..
040913 - Sorry to hear today that 5 months ago Richard had a blood clot, and
040914 - was hospitalized for 10 days.  This is very serious, because he had a
040915 - heart attack in 2002 that caused him to give up his dental practice,
040916 - reported on 020705. ref SDS 1 0X6N
040918 -  ..
040919 - About a month or so ago, I gave Richard a printed report on the
040920 - meeting at Kaiser on 080711, ref SDS 4 0001, to illustrate medical
040921 - case management for oncology at Kaiser.
040923 -  ..
040924 - Today, Richard asked about Millie's situation, following up his review
040925 - of the record on 080711.  Richard said he was very surprised about the
040926 - complexity of getting a CT test in the Radiology Department at Kaiser
040927 - using Millie's new Power Port for injecting contrast medium.
040929 -  ..
040930 - Explained that things went smoothly doing a follow up test at Kaiser
040931 - in Oakland a few weeks ago on 080911. ref SDS 5 LK3R
040933 -  ..
040934 - Richard asked how Millie is doing - is she still getting weekly
040935 - treatments at UCSF?
040937 -  ..
040938 - Explained concern that cancer seems to be progressing again, and this
040939 - will require changing treatments, which will entail another round of
040940 - negotiations with Kaiser on payment of costs.
040942 -  ..
040943 - Richard expressed frustrations with health care billings.
040945 -  ..
040946 - Richard has progressing diabetes.  He could barely walk from the
040947 - parking lot to the store, when we took Ron to lunch the other day, and
040948 - then stopped at Costco in Santa Cruz to visit Donna.  Found a shopping
040949 - cart in the parking lot which he used as a walker.  Had to stop
040950 - several times between the car and store for Richard to rest.
040952 -  ..
040953 - Richard said today that he was billed $300,000 for the 10-day hospital
040954 - treatment to recover from the blood clot problem suffered in June or
040955 - July.  Richard was billed personally, because he lost health insurance
040956 - coverage when he closed his business after his first heart attack in
040957 - 2002, reported on 020705. ref SDS 1 T85N  He owns 10 homes or
040958 - something like that, but cannot raise that kind of cash in today's
040959 - market.
040961 -  ..
040962 - Moreover, the charges seem vastly inflated, similar to Millie's
040963 - experience at UCSF, e.g., on 070830. ref SDS 2 7X5G
040964 -
040965 -     [On 081016 Millie's doctor at UCSF had similar experience getting
040966 -     overcharged for medical services, and then harassed for 2 years.
040967 -     ref SDS 7 7N7H
040969 -      ..
040970 -     [On 081125 2003 notified Ross about Richard's situation for
040971 -     discusison with his son, Hutch, considering a medical career.
040972 -     ref SDS 8 EL8T
040974 -      ..
040975 -     [On 081223 1222 Richard hospitalized again 4 days to recover from
040976 -     another heart attack. ref SDS 9 CZ7M
040978 -      ..
040979 -     [On 090223 0947 dentist billed $17,000 for son's examination in
040980 -     hospital Emergency Department for 3 hours and for which no
040981 -     treatment was required. ref SDS 10 K06O
040982 -
040983 -
040984 -
040985 -
040986 -
040987 -
040988 -
0410 -