Jamal Rasheed v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
Published: Feb. 7, 1998 | Result Date: Jan. 8, 1998 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: SCV15484 Arbitration – $400,000
Arbitrator
Court
San Bernardino Superior
Attorneys
Claimant
Nathaniel J. Friedman
(Law Office of Nathaniel J. Friedman)
Respondent
Experts
Claimant
Robert W. Johnson CPA
(technical)
Jeanne C. Heyerick
(technical)
Elliott E. Blinderman
(medical)
Respondent
Robert W. Rand
(medical)
Michael S. Adams
(technical)
Alfred D. Chichester
(technical)
Facts
On March 23, 1993, claimant Jamal Rasheed, a 17-year-old boy, was shot on a San Bernardino street. He was taken to San Bernardino Community Hospital where the emergency room doctor spoke with an unnamed neurosurgeon from defendant Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in Bellflower. The Kaiser neurosurgeon refused to authorize surgical exploration of the patient's spinal cord. The claimant was stabilized and transferred to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Bellflower. On entry to Bellflower, the claimant had use of his legs. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed a spastic paraplegic. The claimant alleged that a Kaiser neurologist had "signed off" on the case notwithstanding a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak and subdural hematoma. For the next 12 days, the claimant was under the care of a psychiatrist and internist and developed spinal meningitis. The claimant is now permanently in a wheelchair with little or no prospect or ability to earn a living. The claimant brought this action against the respondent based on medical negligence and corporate liability theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The claimant did not make a firm demand. According to respondents, claimant demanded $3.7 million. The respondent did not extend an offer in light of the demand.
Damages
$1.2 million (loss of earnings and costs of future medical care)
Injuries
The claimant suffered spastic paraplegia resulting in permanent confinement to a wheelchair.
Other Information
The award was rendered approximately two years and 10 months after the case was filed. ARBITRATION: An arbitration was held before Hon. Dion Morrow, (neutral arbitrator), Maxcey Filer, Esq. (claimant arbitrator) and P. Theodore Hammond, Esq. (respondent Kaiser arbitrator) resulting in the reported award. Claimant reported this case made its way to the California Supreme Court (Rasheed v. Superior, No. S048811). The indigent claimant argued that he did not want to arbitrate, that he could not afford to arbitrate (pay the fees charged by a neutral arbitrator) and that he would be deprived of procedural due process unless Kaiser was ordered to pay all expenses of the neutral arbitrator. The state Supreme Court voted 7-0 to grant claimant's petition for a hearing. This case proceeded parallel to Engalla v. Permanente Medical Group 15 Cal.4th 951 (1997). In November 1996, while Rasheed was pending in the Supreme Court, Governor Wilson signed into law Health and Safety Code ºº1373.19 and 1373.20 which require health plans, in cases of "extreme hardship," to pay the entirety of the neutral arbitrator's fees. The Supreme Court then dismissed the petition without prejudice. Respondent conceded that the claimant was unable to pay any part of the neutral arbitrator's fees and paid all of Judge Dion Morrow's charges.
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