Hard Time For Kaiser Patients To Get Day In Court The John Pellini Story

(CBS 5) Getting out of bed is hard for John Pellini. He can barely walk.

"The whole body, my shoulder my hands, everything aches," Pellini said.

He even needs help breathing. For John's family it's a 24/7 job. Mr. Pellini while in Kaiser Hospital - Kaiser called this rough handling by the staff.

"I feel guilty because I have always been the type of person to do things by myself," Pellini said.

John's family said he could walk fine just over a year ago, when he checked into the emergency room at Kaiser in Hayward, complaining of a pain in his leg. A few days later, it became even worse.

"I heard code blue and I knew, I just knew it was my dad," John's daughter Teresa said. He was on life support and never fully recovered.

Teresa believes Kaiser injured her father. But seeking justice has been even harder than taking care of her dad.

"You put your whole life, your whole breath in it and you are just beaten down to the ground," Teresa said.

The Pellini's filed a complaint and are now going through Kaiser's mandatory arbitration system. Unlike other HMO's Kaiser doesn't follow national arbitration guidelines, but has crated its own set of rules. The Pellini's say under that system they have not been able to find an attorney to take their case.

Mr. Pellini while in Kaiser Hospital - Kaiser called this rough handling by the staff Teresa volunteered to do the job herself but Kaiser's arbitrator said no. Even accusing her of a misdameanor for practicing law without a license.

"I think its an example of Kaiser acting like a bully and using everything within its arsenal to deprive this woman of a hearing," said attorney Cliff Palesfsky. He added it's not standard procedure.

The country's largest arbitration association, the AAA, does allow representation by a spokesperson of the patient's choosing.

"The arbitrator could very easily have allowed her to represent a relative that was incapable of speaking," Palefsky said.

Meanwhile, the Pellini's asked for a continuance to renew their efforts finding an attorney, but their request was denied.

"What you did to my father is wrong," Teresa said. "And you should pay for what you did to my father"

After CBS 5 contacted Kaiser, the HMO agreed to postpone John Pellini's hearing. And the arbitration oversight board will now consider allowing representation by family members. The hearing is set for later this month.