In addition, Kaiser settled a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former kidney transplant administrator David Merlin, who was fired in early 2006 after eight weeks on the job. Merlin contended that Kaiser retaliated against him for raising concerns about the way the kidney program was operating.
In June, the administrator of Kaiser's San Francisco hospital, Mike Alexander, stepped down.
Two months later, Kaiser agreed to pay a $2-million fine to state HMO regulators and make a $3-million donation for organ donor outreach. And in December, the national regulatory group overseeing transplantation stripped Kaiser of its good standing despite pleas from the HMO's representatives not to do so.
The state Department of Managed Health Care continues to investigate Kaiser for the way it handled patient complaints, including those from kidney patients who said they were ignored.
The results of that inquiry are expected next month.
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tracy.weber@latimes.com
charles.ornstein@latimes.com
