Kaiser Delayed Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis, Man Says
7-2-2013 22:53:00


DENVER (CN) - A Kaiser patient was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis by a non-Kaiser hospital, he claims in a complaint filed against Kaiser in Denver County District Court.

According to Jonathan Lombardi’s complaint, the treatment he received at Kaiser “was substandard and negligent inasmuch as defendants failed to diagnose and treat his condition of multiple sclerosis.”

It was not until Lombardi was admitted to a non-Kaiser hospital that he was diagnosed with the disease.

Lombardi blames Kaiser for the “debilitating progression of the disease, which has required subsequent care and treatment for brain and spinal cord injury and other ailments,” according to the complaint. He has been declared permanently and totally disabled.

"Studies indicate that early treatment delays disability, presumably by decreasing the injury to the nervous system caused by the disease," according to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation website.

Lombardi had had a “prior history of suspicion of multiple sclerosis with visual disturbance from an MRI,” the complaint states, but Kaiser employees did not document that history.

Lombardi’s wife, Jennifer, sues for loss of consortium. They are represented by James W. Avery of Denver. 13cv32565