Consumer watchdogs, consumers, medical patients and Americans everywhere have lost an icon and incredible friend. Kathy Olsen, who gave so much to consumer and medical patient advocacy and safety, recently passed away. Like so many, Kathy became a passionate advocate for consumer rights and justice after the large medical industrial complex impacted her own life. After being denied repeatedly for an $800 CAT scan by an HMO doctor in an emergency room, her then two-year-old son suffered from blindness and brain damage after being admitted for a head injury. These irreversible and preventable injuries awoke in Kathy a need for justice in her own case and a desire to prevent this from happening to other families.
Dedication and Passion for Patient and Consumer Justice
Unfortunately, legislative caps on damages effectively reduced a jury’s multi-million-dollar verdict for her son’s compensation to a mere $250,000. Kathy spent years fighting for HMO patients’ rights, so no other patients or parents of patients would have be to denied life-saving or greatly life-impacting medical tests or treatments due to irresponsible and immoral cost-cutting practices. In addition to dedicating her life to her son’s welfare, wellbeing and happiness, Kathy also worked tirelessly fighting for the rights and justice of medical patients, consumers and families everywhere.
Impacting National Decisions on Medical Damages
Kathy once convinced a swing-vote United States senator to abstain from joining Bush-era Republicans on setting national legal limits on injured patients. Kathy’s story about her son Steven moved the senator to refuse joining then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in his endeavor to limit damages for victims of medical negligence. Kathy was able to inspire others in the fight for consumer and medical patient justice too. Kathy’s son Steven and her husband Scott carry on in her honor. Consumer watchdogs, medical patients, consumers and families all over nation have lost an incredibly strong and generous woman.
The whole team at Alexander Law Group, LLP sends their deepest heartfelt condolences to Steven, Scott and all of Kathy’s family members, friends, loved ones and brothers and sisters in the fight for consumer and medical patient justice.
