Son of Kaiser Casualty Denounces HMO Funding for Ballot Initiative to
Gut Its Legal Accountability
U.S. Newswire
March 8, 2004 Monday 2:08 PM
Son of Kaiser Casualty Who Went to Law School to Vindicate Mother’s
Death Denounces HMO Funding for Ballot Initiative to Gut Its Legal
Accountability
When:
Tuesday, March 9, at 10:30 a.m.
Who:
— Chant Yedalian, son of deceased Kaiser patient
— Jerry Flanagan, the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights
Where:
Kaiser Permanente National Corporate Headquarters, One Kaiser Plaza,
Oakland, CA — One Kaiser Plaza is located in the Lake Merritt Towers
near the corner of 21st Street and Harrison St. Press conference will
be conducted at the 21st Street entrance to One Kaiser Plaza.
The son of a Kaiser Permanente patient who died under Kaiser’s care
will join consumer advocates outside the HMO’s national headquarters
today to demand that the health care giant take back a $100,000
donation it gave to a ballot initiative which aims to gut the state’s
unfair business competition law. Chant Yedalian is using the law to
change the health care system which he says denied his mother care and
justice. Gathering in front of Kaiser’s Oakland headquarters, Yedalian
will join over 60 public interest groups who have asked that Kaiser
and other corporate donors withdraw their support of the anti-consumer
initiative.
Yedalian’s mother, Zevart, died in 1998 at the age of 53. She died
from breast cancer after Kaiser denied her a bone marrow transplant
that might have saved her life. Mrs. Yedalian, who worked at an
Armenian pre-school, bore her suffering stoically, keeping the extent
of her illness secret from all but her closest family members, and
acting as a beacon of encouragement to others.
Yedalian used the Unfair Business Competition Law to successfully
challenge the legality of Kaiser’s claim that HMO members had waived
their right to a jury trial and must submit to binding arbitration.
CONTACT: Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer
Rights, 415-497-1710 (cell)