Letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

July 10, 2012

Ms. Jennifer King
Division of Survey, Certification & Enforcement
Kansas City Regional Office
Center for Medicare Services
Richard Bolling Federal Building
601 E. 12th St., Room 235
Kansas City, MO 64106‐2808

Dear Ms. King:
Re: EMTALA Compliant Case #: MO00075630.

I am writing to acknowledge the receipt of the letter, dated February 21, 2012, which I received from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS). Noted in the letter is the result of MDHSS’s investigation into the EMTALA complaint I had submitted regarding Barnes Jewish Hospital (BJH) of Saint Louis, MO. The stated conclusion reached, per the letter, was: "the complaint was found to be Unsubstantiated."

In the complaint, I had alleged that BJH maliciously violated the EMTALA act twice, over the course of two consecutive days: July 8, 2011 and July 9, 2011. The complaint further tried to show that, in the commission of the EMTALA violations, BJH deliberately violated my civil rights on both days.

These civil rights violations by BJH are best understood within the right perspective: I am a licensed physician who was undergoing clinical residency training at their institution; I had completed three years of clinical training when BJH violated my civil rights.

Nevertheless, based on my medical background and clinical practice experience, I disagree with the result of the investigation, and I am formally requesting a redress therefore. That is, I am asking that my EMTALA complaint against BJH be reopened and re-investigated. I believe reopening this case is all the more appropriate, given the additional materials I am hereby supplying, which are in support of the issues I will be raising later.

Should your office not be in a position to grant my request, I will greatly appreciate being notified and that all appropriate documents and materials regarding this issue be forwarded to the appropriate agent.

My rationale for requesting a reopening and a re-investigation of my EMTALA complaint concerning BJH are:

• BJH has an emergency department
• On both occasions, I was physically located inside the hospital building and was within close proximity to BJH Emergency Department.
• My presenting emergent medical condition was acute and life threatening; they include multiple trauma to the head, loss of consciousness, and severe chest pains.
• Throughout my prolonged detention on the hospital grounds by BJH, I was never provided any appropriate medical screening examination; on elaboration, this implies:

• The qualified staff in the hospital, including nurses or physicians, did not provide needed and necessary medical examination or treatment.
• BJH allowed my medical situation to worsen; in essence, they purposefully withheld medical care and treatment from me, on both days.
• BJH failed to generate required medical records, on both days, of my presentation to their emergency medical department, in an emergent medical state; this means, there were no records of:

• Providing the risks and benefits information needed to obtain my informed-consent before they executed my transfers out of their hospital.
• Obtaining my consents for both hospital-transfers they executed.
Necessary and appropriate documentation of my presentation and of my emergent medical conditions, which is required for my proper medical treatment were neglected and left undone, including any rationale justifying their decision to transfer me, against my will, to two outside hospitals. BJH was more than fully equipped and staffed to provide the necessary medical examination and treatment needed in my specific situations; there was no real medical necessity for them to resort to transferring me to an outside hospital.

Once again, I have attached copies of some of documents I have in my possession regarding this subject matter; I still have others that might be of use, should you need further information. Also, I am available to answer your questions, and I can be reached at Oladimeji.Alade@us.army.mil, 631.316.8101, or the address above.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Alade, Oladimeji MSc, D.O.
Captain, United States Army Reserves.