Kathie Gagne died 4,512 days ago.

Dr. Buck
September 2nd, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

About three weeks and three hours after mom’s death, my little sister sent me this text message:

Dr. Buck just called to see how Mom was doing.

He’s a good guy. If you had any questions, you could probably talk to him.

I replied and asked:

Out of the blue on a Sunday night? Huh?

Why would he call you like that?

Did you tell him what happened?

She wrote back to me:

I did. He said Mom was on his mind. He had been wondering about treatment plans for her. If I remember correctly, [redacted] brought Mom to him because someone from their church knew him or he used to go there.

He cared about Mom. He just didn’t have the answers.

Risperdal
August 31st, 2012 @ 1:57 pm

A friend of mine sent me a link with some recent news about Risperdal:

Risperdal, Anti-Psychotic Medication and Elder Care in Oregon
On Thursday, August 30th, Oregon was one of 36 states, as well as Washington, D.C., that settled a case with a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary over improper marketing of Risperdal. A federal government settlement of similar claims is expected soon. One of the allegations made by critics: Risperdal and similar drugs have been used improperly at times, including as chemical restraints.

Oregon to Receive $4.2 Million in Risperdal Illegal Marketing Settlement
The consumer protection settlement is based on a long-running investigation into whether Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc paid kickbacks to providers to use the drug for unapproved purposes such as managing elderly in nursing homes – while downplaying safety concerns. The drug’s side effects include increased risk for obesity and diabetes, as well as for strokes in older people.

Feds: Johnson & Johnson Paid Kickbacks to Boost Sales
Federal prosecutors said that health care giant Johnson & Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks so nursing homes would put more patients on its blockbuster schizophrenia medicine.

FDA Advises Against Certain Dementia Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors that prescribing a certain group of psychiatric drugs to seniors suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death.
Anti-psychotic drugs are approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disease, but doctors frequently prescribe them to treat elderly patients with dementia.
The FDA’s announcement was an update to a 2005 action, when regulators added warnings about increased heart attacks and pneumonia to drugs called atypical antipsychotics. The medicines include blockbusters like Eli Lilly & Co.‘s Zyprexa and Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal.

Zyprexa was another psychopharmaceutical which my mom was frequently prescribed in the last nine months of her life.
Oregon Risperdal Settlement
August 31st, 2012 @ 1:20 pm

I sent this note to attorney Steven Phillips of Pincus & Currier, LLP at the end of August, 2012:

 

The consumer protection settlement announced this morning is based on a long-running investigation into whether Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, paid kickbacks to providers to use the drug for unapproved purposes such as managing elderly in nursing homes – while downplaying safety concerns.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/08/oregon_to_receive_4_million_in.html

 

The author of that article in the Oregon press, Nick Budnick, requested for people specifically affected by Risperdal to send him their stories. At 1:42 PM on August 31st, 2012, I sent him this email:

 

My mother was prescribed Risperdal on Tuesday, August 7th, by a psychiatrist who met with her one time for less than fifteen minutes.

Her nurses called her doctor to get his approval and — of course — he approved it immediately without question.

Her nurses then called me to get my approval and I denied it. (She had been administered Risperdal in January and December and it simply made her completely unresponsive. I forced them to stop administering it to her and her condition improved.)

They told me they understood that I did not want her given that drug, and told me that they would have the psychiatrist call me.

Without telling me, they began giving her the drug anyway.

The psychiatrist never called me. I learned on the night of August 10th that they were giving her Risperdal against my wishes. I spent hours on the phone with the nursing home all night on the 10th and all morning on the 11th. They refused to communicate with me — even though they knew I was legally her representative — and hung up on me (literally) four separate times. I begged. I actually begged them, crying, pleading with them to stop.

She died on August 12th of a heart attack.

I have extensive, detailed documentation of every phone call I’ve had with every doctor and nurse and therapist for the last nine months.

This all happened in Florida.

 

Nick replied to me at 4:26 PM on September 4th:

 

David,

Thank you for writing. What a terrible, terrible story. To clarify, do you live in Oregon?

Nick

 

I responded to him twelve minutes later:

 

Nick,

No, I’m sorry but I don’t live in Oregon. I live in Los Angeles.

 

He never responded to that, so I assume he was only interested in stories about people in Oregon.

The Process
August 30th, 2012 @ 12:14 pm

It only took Dr. Allen Cusack about five minutes to reply to my email. He said:

Good Afternoon,

We are still awaiting a response from Dr. Peele, which I should have before the close of business today. As soon as he signs off, we will have the cremation completed and will send your mother to you. I will also need an address for your sister to send her the partial cremains you requested.

Usually, the process does not take this long, however, it seems that the more they examine this situation, the better it will be for you and your sister in the long run. It would be helpful to provide you the necessary closure and have ALL the answers needed.

I replied to Allen at 3:15 PM Pacific:

Dear Allen,

On August 17th at about 11:30 AM (Eastern) I spoke with Chris Boden at the office of the Volusia County Medical Examiner. He told me that his office had been in contact with Dr. Peele and informed the doctor that they would not be taking jurisdiction of my mother’s body and would not be performing an autopsy.

Mr. Boden told me that when Dr. Peele received this information, the doctor agreed that he would sign my mother’s death certificate.

The number for the office of the Volusia County Medical Examiner is (386) 258-4060.

Dr. Peele’s phone number is [redacted].

I hope this information helps.

Allen replied to me at 7:54 AM Pacific on August 31st with:

It does. Great!! Thank you

Death Certificate
August 29th, 2012 @ 10:44 pm

Here is an email I sent to the first lawyer who was helping me deal with things after mom died. Obtaining a copy of her death certificate was — like seemingly everything else — a huge pain:

 
 
Paprika
August 29th, 2012 @ 3:19 pm

At the end of August 2012, I sent this email to the woman who helped so much with mom:

 

Dear [redacted],

At the beginning of August we received a notice from Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic which said that it is time for Paprika to receive a dental exam. (It was actually scheduled for August 12th, the day mom died.)

I just thought I would let you know so you could maybe let Paprika’s new owners know that all of her records are probably at Ravenwood.

The phone number there is (386) 788-1550 and the return address on the post card from them is:

4540 South Clyde Morris Boulevard
Port Orange, FL 32129

The note reads:

According to our records, Paprika is due for the following treatments or exams.
Please call (386) 788-1550 for an appointment. If you have any updated information on Paprika, please contact us so that we may update our records.
PLEASE BRING A STOOL SAMPLE
08/12 Dental Evaluation Exam

I hope you are doing well. Thank you so much for all of your help and kindness. I was glad to meet your daughter; she should be infinitely proud to have you for a mother.

I miss my mom so much.

Love,
dvg

 

Paprika was mom’s cat. I didn’t ever really know her, but I know mom loved her dearly. I often wonder how she’s doing and if she misses mom at all.

Death Certificate
August 28th, 2012 @ 9:13 am

Dr. Allen Cusack of Cusack Mortuary emailed me this morning:

Hello Mr. Gagne,

I hope all is as well with you as possible. I also hope the memorial service went well and helped provide your much needed closure. I just wanted to make contact with you that Dr. Wolf has agreed to sign your mother’s death certificate, even though we still need to hear from Florida Hospital – DeLand. It normally does not take this long, however we are on the case.

I am so happy you were able to get the autopsy completed; it made perfect sense to have it done and with any hope, you will have the answers you need very soon.

Take care!!

I replied at 10:37 PM PST:

Hello, Allen,

[…] The memorial service was very moving.

Please keep me updated on the status of the death certificate. (Right now the main reason my sister and I need that is to attempt to get retroactive Social Security Disability reimbursement.)

Is there anything I can do to help?

I sent a follow-up message on August 30th at 12:10 PM PDT because I hadn’t yet received a response from Dr. Cusack:

Dear Allen,

Hello, sir. I have not heard from you in a few days and wanted to check on the status of our mother’s cremation and the death certificates.

Did everything go smoothly? When can we expect delivery of her ashes? Do you need anything at all from me to complete this process?

Thank you sincerely,

David Vincent Gagne

Social Security Disability
August 27th, 2012 @ 7:04 pm

My sister sent me an email regarding mom’s Social Security:

  • The woman who has been working on Mom’s Social Security Disability claim is Jessica Srinivasan out of the Port Orange office.
  • Mom’s last Social Security Retirement payment is the one we received in August 2012 because it pays a month behind (the August payment is for July). Because Mom did not live through all of August, there will be no payment in September.

Disability

  • On 8/21/12 I signed the 827 Form for consent to look at Mom’s medical records.
  • The Medical Disability Examiner will contact me to ask me a few questions about Mom’s medical history. I can give them your phone number.
  • The doctor will review the claim and the medical records.
  • The doctor will let Social Security know his/her determination.
  • If the doctor determines Mom was disabled, the doctor will let Social Security know the start date.
  • I will be notified by letter of the determination.

In order for the funds to be dispersed, you need to bring your certified birth certificate to your local Social Security office. Tell them:

  • Field Office 664 in Port Orange, FL, has an open claim in regards to your mother for a possible underpayment.
  • Give them Mom’s social security number.
  • Bring a picture id.

Because you are not the Representative Payee, they will not give you information, but you can provide them with information. They do not do business via email due to the possibility of spam.

To process for Disability it takes 90 days. I am guessing that it means 90 days from when they have received the authorization form to see the medical records.

ALSO, you need to bring in the certified death certificate for them to copy and send to Jessica. If you want to call her, her number is [redacted].

They need to see the death certificate first so you may as well wait until you have it and make one trip. They need to see your birth certificate and id to verify the dispersement of any payments.

Love you.

Contracts, etc.
August 27th, 2012 @ 12:27 pm

I sent this email to attorney Steven Phillips of Pincus & Currier, LLP on August 27th, 2012 at 12:27 pm:

 

Hey Steve,

We are in the middle of packing everything for our return to LA first thing tomorrow morning. I did have a couple of questions about the contracts you sent. Is it okay if I call you to discuss tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday? Then I can fax and / or FedEx them to you probably by Friday.

Have you spoken to Dr. Wolf since she performed the autopsy?

I still cannot believe the last two and a half weeks were real. I cannot believe I am returning to Los Angeles and I will never see my mother or get to talk to her again. It is simply inconceivable.

I found some photos of her from just a few weeks before she was admitted to Stewart-Marchman ACT on December 1st and she is smiling and happy; she had been dancing in a conga line at a friend’s wedding. The year or two prior to her death saw her losing weight because she was so active, going on long walks with her dog every day. I just can’t believe she’s dead.

 

He replied to me at 12:39 pm:

 

It is very sad indeed.
I’ll be available most all day tomorrow and Wednesday.
Call at your convenience.
I haven’t talked to Dr. Wolf, but she did get the list of meds you sent to me.

 
Assorted Facts
August 24th, 2012 @ 12:24 pm

While my little sister was working on writing mom’s obituary, she brainstormed and put together a list of assorted facts about her. She emailed me this:

  • She was part of the second generation of her family to be born in the United States.
  • She was born in Providence, RI, to Anne and Vincent Albanese on September 22, 1948.
  • She was raised in Warwick with her younger brother, [redacted].
  • Her first job was working in a movie theater which, at the time, was only playing “The Sound of Music”. She ended up seeing it countless times and loved to retell how she actually had an opportunity to meet Maria VonTrapp herself.
  • She got married in 1972 and had two children, David and Jenny.
  • After her divorce in 1978, she and her brother drove her children through a blizzard to Daytona Beach to live near her parents.
  • She became active in the local Jaycees and won a variety of writing competitions with them.
  • She wrote a short-story, “For Jenny Blue”, that was published in Woman’s World Magazine, one of her proudest moments.
  • She was always active in her children’s school activities, participating in PTAs and doing her best to attend every play her son was in and her daughter’s various sporting events.
  • She worked for the Daytona Beach Police Department and the Holly Hill Police Department as a dispatcher.
  • She worked at the Daytona Beach News-Journal as a copy editor.
  • She eventually moved into management positions with Webworld and Interlink Paging.
  • She was very excited to buy her first house right next door to her mother which was quite the fixer upper.
  • She returned to college in 1994 and proudly graduated from the University of Central Florida in December of 1998 (with better grades than her daughter who graduated from the University of Florida in May 1998). I think she was at some of her happiest times when she went back to school.
  • She eventually moved to Gainesville, where she worked at Cox Communications and then with the Alachua School System as the Program Director for their AmeriCorps Reads program. She loved that she was helping numbers of kids learn how to read.
  • In 2004 she fought her fears and finally got back on an airplane to go to Chicago, IL, to see her daughter baptized. After that, she was happy to jump in a plane to travel, eventually making a trip to LA to visit her son.
  • In 2010 she was able to make a trip to LA to hold her first grandchild, [redacted].
  • She was a dedicated daughter, mother, sister, and aunt.
  • She loved animals, at one time having 4 dogs and a cat. She was always donating to various charities looking to care for the ones she could not take in her own home.
  • She worked hard to provide not only the basic necessities for her children but also to give them a day at Disney here or there. One of her favorite memories was when she managed to save up and take her children and mother to River Ranch for a week.
  • She was a talented artist.
  • She loved word games.
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