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  • Kaiser campaign donation chided

    Oakland Tribune
    March 10, 2004

    Kaiser campaign donation chided
    By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER


    Consumer advocates demanded Tuesday that Kaiser Permanente take back
    a$100,000 donation to a ballot initiative campaign that aims to change
    the state's unfair business competition law.

    The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is fighting the ballot
    initiative on grounds that it will bar individuals and consumer groups
    from suing businesses that violate consumer protection laws -- including
    patient protection and environmental statutes. The AARP, Sierra Club and
    United Farm Workers are among other groups opposed to the initiative.

    "Kaiser has invested$100,000 of our premium dollars into removing
    consumer rights and accountability," said Jerry Flanagan of the
    Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.

    Kathleen McKenna, spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente, said the HMO is
    supporting initiative because of a "growing concern with frivolous
    lawsuits."


    Appearing in front of Kaiser Permanente's Oakland headquarters Tuesday
    was Chant Yedalian, whose mother, Zevart -- a Kaiser patient -- died
    from breast cancer in 1998 at age 53.

    Yedalian used the state's unfair business competition law, known as
    17200, in a wrongful death lawsuit against Kaiser, arguing that it
    denied his mother a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant and
    then further denied his rights to challenge the HMO in a jury trial.
    Kaiser requires its members to go through binding arbitration instead of
    trial.

    Yedalian, who lives in Los Angeles, argued that Kaiser's binding
    arbitration clause is a violation of the unfair business competition
    law.

    "This was the only law available to protect people from this unfair
    process," Yedalian said.

    Yedalian's case is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

    McKenna said Kaiser's campaign donation has nothing to do with its
    arbitration policy.

    "We've been using binding arbitration for 50 years," she said.

    She said Yedalian's mother received inadequate notice about Kaiser's
    binding arbitration policy -- a major reason why the case ended up in
    court.

    The initiative campaign, called Stop Shakedown Lawsuits, is driven by
    the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Motor Car Dealers
    Association and other business groups.

    So far, the campaign has collected more than 300,000 signatures to place
    the measure on the Nov. 2 ballot. To qualify, at least 373,816 valid
    signatures must be submitted to the secretary of state by April 16.

    The campaign has raised $2.5 million, mostly from banks, insurance
    companies, car dealers, pharmaceutical companies and other businesses.
    Blue Cross of California donated $250,000 and PacifiCare gave $10,000.

    Campaign supporters said they want to stop unscrupulous lawyers from
    using 17200 to sue for made-up claims and then force a settlement.

    John Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California
    and a co-chairman for the campaign, said the initiative would not bar
    individuals from suing companies for harm or financial injury.

    In a case to get out of arbitration, Sullivan said, many other statutes
    and previous court decisions could surely be used "if justice is owed."

    "When groups like this find a case that has a tragic story -- as this
    one undoubtedly does -- that 17200 figures into, you can turn it on it's
    head and argue that you can go out to any cases and find a 17200 case
    tacked onto it," Sullivan said.

    Yedalian said 17200 was his only course of action.

    "The initiative would prevent people from seeking justice," he said.
    "You can't protect other members of the public without it."



    Contact Rebecca Vesely at [email protected] .
    ©1999-2003 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
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