DOCTORS UNDER THE INFLUENCE????

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/26/eveningnews/main4213269.shtml

Estimates say drug-company payments to doctors go as high as $57 billion a year. Maybe this is the reason the physician was so eager to inject the procrit drug into our mother's body even when he was instructed not to. The PROCRIT injection costs $2,000.00 per injection. I have researched the drug maker, Johnson and Johnson, and discovered they reward physicians with rebates and cash for using the drug PROCRIT. There are a hand full of Congressman currently investigating this problem.
It will be interesting to find out how much the Abilene physician has and continues to receive from the drug company.

ONE YEAR AGO

One year ago this week, as our mother was looking forward to being discharged from the hospital after almost losing her life to a reaction to a procrit injection, one of the Abilene Regional Medical Center's physicians decided to inject her with the same drug once again. As she was lying in the CCU room on a ventilator, she was attempting to talk and moving her arms as to ask "why did they give me another shot?" My brother in law told her "Don't worry. They will not give you that drug again." She shook her head back and forth indicating "NO".
As I have mentioned before, from this point on, it was hell for her and the family. I do not believe anyone would disagree our mother deserved an answer. To this day, the question has not been answered. This is what we did receive:
1. Verbally assaulted by the CCU physician when asked why she received the drug again. He even told me to hire all the attorneys and lawyers I wanted. Then laughed.
2. While visiting with our mother as she was about to pass away, another physician talking about lawsuits and why we should not even consider it.
3. Being denied by Abilene Regional Medical Center to transfer our mother to another hospital in Abilene.
4. Being told by ARMC staff that our complaint would be reviewed at the next meeting and something would be done. After waiting several weeks, we contacted them and were told our complaint was thrown out because it didn't fit the requirements for a complaint. A phone call or letter would have been nice.
5. Having the physicians to dodge us and only check on our mother during non visitation hours so they wouldn't have to answer questions.
6. We fired the physician that ordered the deadly drug injection. Once our mother FINALLY left ARMC, this same physician walked up to her room and attempted to get information. I am sure he did after I left.
7. We received $1,200.00 worth of medical records containing blank pages and completely out of order. Not to mention having to deal with the behavior of the young lady in medical records. However, when she was not taking it out on us and others attempting to get medical records, she was complaining about the politics of ARMC and how she hated the Administration Staff. I DO see her point there. She told us some other information I am holding on to for legal reasons.
8. The physician harassing us about lawsuits claimed his mother died of the same problems our mother had. We later learned his mother is alive and well.
In the end, our mother passed away in August 2007. I believe it is unacceptable for physicians and a hospital to believe they do not have to answer patients and families questions. Especially in this case. I personally believe they feel this will go away over time. Once again, I can assure them that it will not.
I have letters I have written and will be sending to local, state, and national newspapers. I have also been in contact with a reporter for a national news station. She is working on a story about the problems and dangers of healthcare nationwide. Hopefully we can add Abilene Regional Medical Center to this story.

MEDICAL RECORDS

As mentioned earlier, we paid over $1,200.00 for our mother's medical records from Abilene Regional Medical Center. While waiting for copies to be made of the records, the young lady in the medical records department treated us and others as though we were wasting her time. At one point, an elderly lady walked in and asked for a copy of her husband's records. The young lady treated this elderly person so poorly it brought the lady to tears. She walked out and stated she was going to talk to someone in charge. I followed her to the Administrative office of ARMC. The lady told her story and I also told of our experience as well as others. As usual, the secretary stated, "I will let someone know about it. It will be taken care of." That phrase is used often at ARMC.
I went back to the Medical Records Department, paid the disgruntled young lady over $1,200.00 and drove home. I then discovered the pages were not stamped as they should have been. I contacted her by phone and she requested I return and this would be taken care of. Upon arrival, she took the box from me, requested I have a seat outside the office, and she would take care of it. She also stated she would distribute it out to all employees and they would help stamp the pages. After receiving the records again, it was discovered there were numerous blank pages and the records were not in order. Nice way to make $1,200.00. It should also be noted the other hospitals involved charged a total of $0.00 for our mother's records.
To top it off, the employee in the Medical Records Department has a CRIMINAL HISTORY. THEFT PROP >=$1500 < $20K. A STATE JAIL FELONY. PER PUBLICDATA.COM THAT IS PUBLIC RECORD.
There are other employees with criminal backgrounds I will mention later.

MEETING IN AUSTIN THIS WEEK

I am extremely encouraged at the amount of emails I have received since starting this blog. Word is getting around about the actions and dishonesty of this hospital. I will be in Austin on Thursday and Friday of this week with meetings regarding this case.

INCOMPASSIONATE PHYSICIANS AT ARMC

You would think when a family member or friend is in the hospital, especially the Critical Care Unit, you would receive comfort and compassion from the physician and nursing staff. That is not the case at Abilene Regional Medical Center. After the physician made the senseless mistake of injecting a drug into my mother's body against her wishes and ours, and she was rushed back to the critical care unit, it was as though WE, the family members, had made the mistake. After being verbally assaulted by the physician in CCU, it was very difficult to even find a physician to talk to. If you are familiar with Abilene Regional's Critical Care Unit you are aware they have limited visitation times. When we asked a nurse to speak to the physician, we were told he had already been around. DURING NO VISITATION HOURS. How convenient. On one occasion, we had contacted the physician by phone and he stated he would meet with us the next morning. When he failed to show, we asked the nurse and she stated he had been around earlier and we had missed him. Once again, it was during NO VISITATION HOURS. I contacted the physician by phone and he stated, "I guess I am not aware of visitation hours." You would think the CCU physician after all the years would know the CCU visitation hours. But once again, this IS Abilene Regional Medical Center. There is one physician that WOULD come around, the nutty infectious disease doctor that would only talk about lawsuits. Those are really compassionate physicians at Abilene Regional. Most hid and avoided the issue, but sent the nuttiest one to talk to the family about lawsuits.

COMMENTS FROM AN EMPLOYEE AT ARMC

AS POSTED ON JOBVENT.COM:

Abilene, Texas: "Oh my god, this is the worst place ever. As a healthcare worker who works in this hospital- I personally recommend people NOT to come here. Believe me, if you ever get in a wreck, don't go to this hospital."
This was posted by an employee of Abilene Regional Medical Center.

I have spoken with several current and former employees of Abilene Regional Medical Center who are extremely unhappy about events that have occured at the hospital over the years.

During the most recent conversation with the attorney for the owners of Abilene Regional Medical Center, he admitted there were problems but claimed they are working on correcting them. The question is, How many more patients and families have to suffer due to the these problems at ARMC??????

HOW ABILENE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER COMPARES TO OTHER HOSPITALS

Would patients recommend the hospital to friends and family? ARMC scored 60%

How do patients rate the hospital overall? ARMC = 58%

How often was the area around patients' rooms kept quiet at night? ARMC = 59%

How often were the patients' rooms and bathrooms kept clean? ARMC = 66%

How often did staff explain about medicines before giving them to patients? ARMC = 57%

How often was patients' pain well controlled? ARMC = 62%

How often did patients receive help quickly from hospital staff? ARMC = 54%

How often did nurses communicate well with patients? ARMC = 67%

ABILENE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER SCORED BELOW AVERAGE ON ALL BUT ONE OF THE QUESTIONS ON THE SURVEY.

THE VICTIMS OF ABILENE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

The attorney for Abilene Regional Medical Center called me several weeks ago and claimed he was arranging a meeting with the VP's of Abilene Regional Medical Center and he would see to it that we receive an "Apology." Thanks for the offer Mr. Serpe but after one year, it is alittle too late for an apology.
Since this ordeal began, I have met numerous patients and families who have experienced problems with Abilene Regional Medical Center. I am working on getting approval to start listing the physicians and staff of Abilene Regional Medical Center at the center of these problems. This includes cases where physicians or nursing staff administered the wrong medication, too much medication, failure to document important information, as well as numerous other mistakes. This should create an uproar but I am concerned about the safety of patients and future patients of Abilene Regional Medical Center.
I hope to start posting details within a couple of weeks.

ABILENE PHYSICIAN'S HORRENDOUS LIE

During the physician's relentless attempt to talk myself and my family out of filing a lawsuit, the physician stated his mother went through the same thing our mother was experiencing. He went on to say his mother passed away during surgery years ago and it was still very hard. Later, we read in a local newspaper where this particular physician's mother was visiting Abilene from another state. It was later verified, his mother is alive and well. I am very glad to hear she is alive, but how low can a person go??????
This physician also contacted my niece in New Mexico and informed her the news that her grandmother had passed away. This is BEFORE we could even notify her. I personally believe this physician is out of control. I have talked to others and have been told of their experiences with this same physician.
The nurses and others I have spoken to all had one word to describe this physician: "WEIRDO".

SILENCE FROM ARMC

Mission Statement:
Abilene Regional Medical Center is committed to providing quality healthcare in a safe, comfortable and compassionate environment.

At Abilene Regional Medical Center, we're here to enhance the quality of your life. We accomplish that goal by creating an environment that fosters physician participation, recognizes the value and contributions of our employees and strives to meet the unique health care needs of the area we serve.




One year ago this month, the staff at Abilene Regional Medical Center disregarded our mother's and our demands to not have a certain drug given to her again. Sadly, she was rushed back to CCU and never recovered. During this ordeal at ARMC, I was yelled at in CCU by the physician in front of my family, nurses, other patients, and visitors. We were visited by another physician who could only talk about lawsuits. (We had never discussed lawsuits) This was in our mother's CCU room as she lay there about to pass away. Very compassionate doctors they have at ARMC. We attempted to talk to the physician in charge of our mother's care, but he kept dodging us. Later, he stated he wasn't sure of CCU visitation hours and evidently came when we weren't able to visit. There is more. ALOT MORE. I have to wait to release that information. Including the autopsy report.
Meanwhile, the administration at ARMC is extremely quiet. No phone calls, no letters answered. I assume they believe this will fade away. It will not. I am concerned about the publics safety. Is this a rare experience at ARMC or does it happen often. We have spoken with numerous families with stories about ARMC. I have news for those of you who have had similiar problems with the hospital. Please feel free to contact me.
Also, ARMC, I recommend you update your mission statement.

Abilene Regional Medical Center: DID THEY COMMIT MURDER???

Should a hospital and or physicians be charged with assault or even murder when going against a patient's request not to be given a certain drug? Should patients and their families overlook this as "just a mistake." I don't think so. Has this happened before? According to numerous families I have spoken with, there are far too many mistakes being made at Abilene Regional Medical Center.
When a mistake is made, is it right for a hosptial such as Abilene Regional Medical Center to ignore a patient's family and the questions they have?
The truth is Abilene Regional Medical Center is very fearful of a lawsuit. After all, they are the first and only to bring it up. They know this is going to be very public and they will continue to receive negative publicity. Mike Murphy, you claim to have an open door policy when questions or conflict arise. Are you going to come forward and discuss this????? If not, please update your website and admit you will dodge any questions a family may have regarding mistakes you make at your hospital.
Also, when you place an ad for help wanted, you can add, CRIMINALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.
You can't deny it. I have a list of names of the employees with criminal records employed by your hospital. Maybe that explains why there are so medical mistakes and victims at your hospital. Maybe they aren't mistakes.
If the attorney for ARMC is reading this, it has been several weeks since you contacted me and claimed you are arranging a meeting with the staff at ARMC. I am still waiting.