Letter to my H.M.O.

I sent this letter to Kaiser, it made an impression.


Mr. ********
Tonight when I arrived at home I had a letter from Kaiser Permanente in my mail box denying my appeal for the medication Provenge and denying my appeal for an outside second opinion. My hopes were completely deflated. I love how I always get a bad news letter from Kaiser on a Friday. Dr.****** said the reason for the denial was that I have a small metastasis in one of my lungs therefor I am excluded from Provenge. That must be Kaiser protocol. You see sir I know from my contacts at Dendreon, C.M.S. guidelines, and from other prescribing physicians that lung metastasis is no longer an exclusion. How dare Kaiser use criteria for inclusion into a clinical trial to deny me a potential life saving treatment. Do not worry sir, I will not be bothering you again. The tenor for putting profit before people must be a corperate wide ideal. Perhaps a trickle down theory if you will. I will get Provenge. It is Indicated for men who are (" asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, Metastatic, Castration resistant prostate cancer ") PERIOD!!!!!!!! Lung mets are not an exclusion. It is indicated for me. My next stop is the Insurance Commissioner and the media. I ask Kaiser for help and the same 2 people that deny my use of this drug deny it again and then tell me I can always get a second opinion from another Kaiser Dr. ! Thanks but no thanks. Why would I ask for a second opinion from someone reading out of the same playbook? I will not stop Mr. ********. I will not shut up. I will not stop fighting for what is right. It is not in my nature. I don't know how to just do what I am told and be a good little submissive patient. I will go to the papers, the Facebook, the twitter, the Huffington post and the beauty of it is I have all these techy geek friends who are willing to do it for me. Tomorrow I will be contacting *** ****from Dendreon. I hope she and Kaiser can work this out. Sincerely, Todd A Seals

Hi Sonny,
When the Lady from Member Relations called me she said that everyone within her Dept. and as far up the chain of command she could see from her corner of the world was twitching like they got hit with a Taser. It does not change anything however. The only way that My H.M.O. will help me out with this is if I am somehow able to change corporate policy. That is what I would most like to see happen. I did file another appeal. I will know the results of that process in a couple of days. My new Doctor, (nice lady) gave me a hug and said she was proud of what I am doing but told me not to hold my breath. That is why I made the appointment in Las Vegas. I do not have the time to let the grass grow under my feet. Nicholas Vogelzang will be my Oncologist and Kaiser will simply be there until I can dump them in December. I will use them for the scans and labs that I need and for my quarterly check-ups. I am going to the best there is people. I know that a lot of guys are just as sick or sicker than I am. I feel for all the guys that have bone mets and deal with that type of pain. I thank God that my bones are still in good shape. The problem I see is that its hard to live very long without your lungs. I feel as though I need to stay way ahead of the game and be proactive in my treatment. Todd

Can it be demonstrated that Provenge has saved anyone's life?

Great Letter! Stay strong.

Beachbum

Thank you pax and beachbum. I shall endeavor to petsavier i am a terrible speller