Kathleen A. Gagne

Kathie Gagne died 4,421 days ago.

August 9th, 2013 @ 10:46 am

At the beginning of August, close to the one-year anniversary of mom’s death, I sent this email to Katie Perez, the legal assistant at K.B. Mathis, P.A., as a follow-up to a previous conversation:

From: David Gagne
To: Katherine Perez
Subject: Statute of Limitations?
Sent: August 09, 2013 @ 10:46 AM PDT

Hey Katie,

More importantly, though, was my last question: “Can you tell me what the next step in this process is?”

As we’ve discussed, Monday will mark one year since my mother’s death. I just recently learned that in Florida you only have TWO years from a person’s death to do anything, so I am more than a little concerned.

Thanks in advance,

From: Katherine Perez
To: David Gagne
Subject: RE: Statute of Limitations?
Sent: August 09, 2013 @ 11:00 AM PDT

You have two years to FILE an action. It does not have to be resolved within the two-year time frame.

All the medical records have been provided to the other attorney for review. We will let you know as soon as we have his perspective on the case.

From: David Gagne
To: Katherine Perez
Subject: Re: Statute of Limitations?
Sent: August 09, 2013 @ 11:08 AM PDT

Okay. Thank you very much, Katie. I appreciate it.

A Polaroid

August 8th, 2013 @ 9:21 am

I found this Polaroid of mom, but there is no date on it. My first guess is that it’s from her days working at Cox Communications in Gainesville, FL. But who was using a Polaroid camera in the 90s? I’d say it might be from when she worked at InterLink Paging / Arch Communications, but I don’t remember her ever having a badge there. I think she looks very lovely in this photo. I bet she saved it because her hair looks nice.

If anyone can identify the office or otherwise place this photo, I’d appreciate it.

Halifax

August 8th, 2013 @ 7:40 am

From: Katie Perez, legal assistant to K.B. Mathis, P.A.
To: David V. Gagne
Sent: August 8, 2013 @ 07:40 AM PDT
Subject: Halifax

Please see attached the records received from Halifax with regard to your Mother’s visits there.

Thank you,

Attachment: Halifax.pdf

From: David V. Gagne
To: Perez, Katie
Sent: August 14, 2013 @ 08:04 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Halifax

Katie,

Thank you very much. I have three very important issues with this set of records, though.

(1) My mother spent — literally — several *months* at Halifax between Thanksgiving 2011 and her death on August 12, 2012. These records appear to only refer to the visit the Friday before her death.
(2) Many of these documents are dated *after* her death, which is confusing at best.
(3) There are several documents which state that some form of consent was granted by her brother, [redacted], via telephone. From Thanksgiving 2011 until her death, I had *hundred* of documented conversations with nurses, doctors, administrators, and federal and state employees and every single time I made it clear and confirmed with absolute certainty that nobody but me was authorized to make any decisions or give any consent about anything regarding my mother.

Can you tell me what the next step in this process is?

From: Katie Perez
To: David V. Gagne
Sent: August 14, 2013 @ 08:12 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Halifax

We only requested records for 08/10/2013 and 08/12/2013; we did not request a complete set of all records for all dates of service.

Will you let me know which page(s) you are referring to that have dates after her death? I reviewed the records twice and have not noticed dates after 08/12/2012.

Did you have any paperwork regarding was to give consent for treatment to your Mother? A Power of Attorney or Healthcare Surrogate form?

From: David V. Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: August 9, 2013 @ 10:18 AM PDT

Hey Katie,

(1) Oh, okay. I didn’t realize that.
(2) A bunch of the reports show that they were “run” on 8/14. I guess it’s not important.
(3) By the time we realized we should get Power of Attorney, we were told that she was no longer competent to grant it. I don’t know what a Healthcare Surrogate form is, but I was forced by Halifax to read a book and complete a written test related to being her official “Guardian Advocate”. And I was told numerous times by dozens of people that because she had no surviving parents and no spouse, as her oldest child the responsibility was mine. And, of course, there was a monumental amount of paperwork related to things like that from Woodland Terrace. See here:

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/25/shelly-calls-me/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/02/calling-woodland-terrace/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/31/returned-admissions-forms/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/30/admission-pocket/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/20/incorrect-fax-more-rudeness/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/17/consent-form-follow-up/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/07/16/rosa-requests-consent/

Legal Aid

August 7th, 2013 @ 11:39 am

From: Snipes, Shane
To: Gagne, David
Subject: Re: Legal Aid
Sent: August 7, 2013 11:39 AM

Thank you for reaching out. I work with some of the best attorneys in the state and are able to get you one on one with someone as fast as possible.
David, if you can give me a few bullet points I can get you in touch with the right attorney. I am available via email or call xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Shane Snipes

From: Gagne, David
To: Snipes, Shane
Subject: Re: Legal Aid
Sent: August 7, 2013 2:09 PM

Shane,

My mother died while staying at Woodland Terrace in Deland, on August 12, 2012 at the age of 63.

From about two weeks after her death until the end of 2012, I was working with an attorney named Steve Phillips of Pincus & Currier, LLP, in West Palm Beach. Because he would frequently go for weeks at a time without responding to phone calls or emails, I decided to start working with a different firm at the end of the year.
A friend of mine recommended Kelly Mathis of Mathis & Murphy, P.A. (now simply K.B. Mathis, P.A.) in Jacksonville. Kelly seems like a really great lawyer, but for almost six months there was nothing happening with my case because of turmoil in his office; the paralegals assigned to my case were terminated or left, with no notice to me, stuff like that. In just the last six to eight weeks things seem to be back on track and I am seeing some progress — they’ve finally acquired copies of my mother’s medical records, for example — but the slow pace is very, very frustrating.

I know I shouldn’t complain since both firms agreed to work with me on a contingency basis, and I’ve been told that because my sister and I are both older than 25 there is little financial incentive for a lawyer to take our case. But I simply cannot believe that the justice system in Florida is so broken that my mother’s death should be meaningless.

I kept very comprehensive and detailed records of every phone call, email, letter, and fax I exchanged with every doctor, nurse, administrator, and federal or state employee from the time my mother was first Baker Acted just after Thanksgiving 2011 until her death. All of this information is published on a private website I maintain at kathiegagne.com. (I can give you access to this password-protected site if you’d like.)

Would it be possible for me to call you when I leave the office today or tomorrow? (It would be approximately 8:00 PM your time.) If that is inconvenient for you, I could call in the morning on my way to the office. Let me know.

I’m also going to forward you an email I recently sent attorney Kelly Mathis which contains several bullet points detailing what I think are the most important issues with my mother’s care.

Thanks in advance,

Halifax Records Received

August 5th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm

From: Katie Perez, Legal Assistant at K.B. Mathis, P.A.
To: David V. Gagne
Sent: August 5, 2013 @ 01:52 PM PDT
Subject: Halifax Records

Mr. Gagne:

We received records from Halifax, but I have not yet had the opportunity to download them to the file. I will get them to you ASAP, but wanted to at least let you know that they arrived.

Thank you,

From: David V. Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: August 5, 2013 @ 02:04 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Halifax Records

Thanks for the good news, Katie.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate being kept updated.

Re: Filing Received

August 1st, 2013 @ 11:30 am

From: Katie Perez, Legal Assistant to Kelly Mathis
To: David V Gagne
Sent: August 1, 2013 @ 11:30 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Filing Received

I will consider it a major accomplishment if I can even get the Halifax records back in the next eleven days. I would be completely astounded if we had an opinion back from the other attorneys by the anniversary date.

I know this may not mean much, but here is what I consider to be your accomplishments thus far:

You have handled your Mother’s final arrangements;

You have established an Estate by opening a Probate case for her affairs;

You have secured all paperwork associated with her death (death certificate, Personal Representative paperwork, etc.);

You have gathered the documentation necessary to evaluate a potential legal case regarding your Mother’s death;

You have maintained meticulous notes to document the series of events leading up to her untimely passing and since her passing;

You have contacted an attorney who is acting on your behalf and evaluating legal repercussions for you;

You have daily taken steps to follow up and ensure that the legal case and her affairs are not stagnate;

You have shared her story with anyone who will listen in honor of her memory and in pursuit of justice on her behalf;

You are doing everything in your power every day to make sure that her death was not in vain.

I know it feels like you are spinning your wheels, but progress is being made, however slowly. I hope that you and your family have the opportunity to remember your Mother and honor her life, memory and legacy at this important milestone.

I will continue to update you on any progress I make.

From: David V. Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: August 1, 2013 @ 03:00 PM PDT

Katie,

Thank you so much for sending me this. I truly, deeply appreciate it.

Filing Received

August 1st, 2013 @ 8:04 am

From: Katie Perez
To: David V. Gagne
Sent: August 1, 2013 @ 08:04 AM PDT
Subject: FW: Filing Received

Mr. Gagne:

The below message confirms filing for the Inventory in Volusia County. I have attached a copy of the fully executed Inventory for your records as well.

Thank you and have a great day.

Attachment: Inventory.pdf

Below this email was a forward of a message she had received from an automated system:

From: noreply@myflcourtaccess.com
Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2013 10:35 AM EDT
Subject: Filing Received

Dear Kelly B. Mathis:

This email verifies the receipt of 1 document submitted by you to Volusia Probate division on 08/01/2013 10:35:13 AM.

Case Number: 2013 10526 PRDL

The E-Portal reference number of this filing is: 4233030. Please reference this Filing # in any correspondence.

We will notify you when processing is complete.

This is a non-monitored email. Do not reply directly to it. If you have any questions about this filing please contact the Volusia Probate division.

Thank you,

Florida Courts eFiling Portal Staff

I replied to Katie a few hours after I received her forward:

From: David V. Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: August 1, 2013 @ 11:00 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Filing Received

Thanks, Katie.

Between you and me: Do you think there is any chance that anything substantial is going to happen in the next eleven days? August 12th will be the one-year anniversary of my mother’s death and — for reasons even I do not understand and which are probably completely irrational — I am panicked that a full year has almost passed and I feel like I have basically gotten nowhere.

Inventory

July 31st, 2013 @ 10:54 am

From: Kelly Mathis
To: David V. Gagne
CC: Katie Perez
Sent: July 31, 2013 @ 10:15 AM PDT

David,

Please sign the attached if accurate and return to me via fax or email and regular mail.

Thanks,

Kelly

Attachment: Inventory.docx

From: David Gagne
To: Kelly Mathis
CC: Katie Perez
Sent: July 31, 2013 @ 10:54 AM PDT

Kelly,

I just signed and faxed this document to you at (xxx) xxx-xxxx and mailed the original to your Riverplace Blvd address.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Thanks,

Do Not Post

July 29th, 2013 @ 12:25 pm

From: Kelly Mathis
To: David V. Gagne
CC: Katie Perez
Sent: July 29, 2013 @ 12:25 PM PDT

David,

Please do not post any emails or communications with this office on the website.

Kelly

Kelly B. Mathis, Esquire
K. B. Mathis, P.A.

From: David Gagne
To: Kelly Mathis
CC: Katie Perez
Sent: July 29, 2013 @ 01:06 PM PDT

Kelly,

I use the kathiegagne.com website as a tool to help me document everything that has happened.

It is not available to the public, and — aside from you and Ms. Perez — only a very few select family members have access to it.

Being able to quickly and immediately reference dates and times, and share them with you (or others at your firm), has proven invaluable on several occasions.

Did I do something wrong?

From: Kelly Mathis
To: David V. Gagne
CC: Katie Perez
Sent: July 30, 2013 @ 04:34 AM PDT

David,

The fact that anyone other than you and members of this firm can see the communications can be deemed a waiver of attorney/client privilege. If you share information with anyone else you can paraphrase or summarize but don’t include the actual communication. If you want to have a separate database of actual communication you can do that.

Kelly

HIPAA Authorization for DCF

July 29th, 2013 @ 11:21 am

From: Katie Perez @ K.B. Mathis, P.A.
To: David V. Gagne
Sent: July 29, 2013 @ 10:57 AM PDT

Mr. Gagne:

Based on our conversation today, I would like to try to get records from DCF. It is a long shot since they are not a medical provider, but I would like to try. To that end, attached is an authorization form for you to execute and return.

Thank you,

Attachment: HIPAA Authorization-DCF.pdf

From: David Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: July 29, 2013 @ 11:20 AM PDT

Katie,

Thanks. I’ll go get this notarized at lunch today, fax you a copy, and have the original in the mail to you this afternoon.

You can read more about my interactions with DCF and the Department of Elder Affairs immediately before and after mom’s death here:

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/11/an-email-to-michelle-cofano/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/11/reaching-out/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/11/investigator-brown/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/13/updating-investigator-brown/

http://kathiegagne.com/2012/08/16/re-a-trip-to-the-er/

Please let me know if you need to me reset your website account.

From: David Gagne
To: Katie Perez
Sent: July 29, 2013 @ 01:45 PM PDT

Katie,

I printed this document and got it notarized. Then I faxed it to you at (***) ***-**** and mailed the original to your [redacted] address.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Thanks,