ROCKWOOD CLINIC

 

Reinstatement – U.S. Citizen born abroad in Pisa, Italy (08-16-63),

Silvia F. Stein (509) 838-2320  928 west 19^th Avenue, Spokane, WA, U.S.A., 99203

22 February 2017

Dear Gary Knox, M.D., Chief Medical Director;

In 2007, after fourteen years court litigation against a pre-meditated hit and run by a homophobe in Germany, whence I won at three different levels of court in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, I received a large financial settlement, and prefer to protect myself as a private pay client, in the U.S.. I find I have more respect and control in a private pay client-physician relationship, than through middlemen in the U.S. insurance system.

In Italy, where I am born, I receive practically free medical care under the socialized medical plan there, and optimize my treatment by upgrading myself to first class as private pay, above the guaranteed minimum rate, guaranteeing me first class treatment (Italy still practices within a caste system). I am requiring a private pay physician at Rockwood, in the absence of the former Spokane Valley physician, to verify my physical handicap status since 1993, as documented, in order to renew a Washington state handicap parking permit which has recently expired (#893001).

I have only been to Rockwood once, in 2000, while I was teaching Media Ethics at Washington State University as a Graduate student. Since then I have been in Europe returning in 2009 to help my Italian Mother purchase a house on the South Hill. In late 2009 I applied for, and received, a Washington state handicap parking permit to assist me when I am driving. The private pay primary care provider, a Spokane Valley family physician, has retired.

In 2000, when I was using my WSU health insurance I had an unfortunate experience with an attending Rockwood physician, that lead me to only see physicians in the U.S. if I pay as private pay. The attending Rockwood physician failed to refer to the Neurological reports of two physicians, a Neurosurgeon and a Neurologist. When I asked him to please refer to the reports of the specialists he stated he never wanted me in the Rockwood Clinic ever again, perhaps fearing that I would claim malpractice against him. In 2003 the diagnosis of the Neurologist, whom he dismissed, were confirmed to be accurate through testing by my European Neuro Surgeon.

I.              Behavior that led to the dismissal

A Rockwood physician, white male, fairly young, ambitious, and identifying himself as an orthopedic specialist, in the Autumn of 2000, refused the diagnosis of myelopathy on record with Professor, International Neurological Institute Director Majid Samii, M.D. who is my German-Iranian Neuro-Surgeon since 1993 (INI 2015 Document), who is listed as Professor at Harvard and U.C.L.A. Medical Schools, and furthermore rejected my Moscow, Idaho Neurologist, a woman, Barbara Morgan, M.D. diagnosis earlier in June, 2000.

My mother, an Italian citizen, Gigliola M. Addini-Stein, was witness as I was unable to even properly hold a pen in my right hand while said Rockwood physician was briefly examining me. I am a left arm amputee after being gay-bashed at 20:20 on the 11^th of June by a drunk Catholic Polish driver in Germany in 1993. My mother hand carried all notarized and certified documents (including x-rays and MRI’s) from both Prof. Samii and Dr. Morgan to said Rockwood physician. At the time of the 20:20 pm homicide attempt with an automobile witnessed in the planning with off-duty policemen at about 19:30 pm in a pub that evening in 1993, I was employed as a European born civilian under the U.S. Department of Defense. As a civilian “don’t ask don’t tell” did not apply to me, and I was openly dating another European born pre-law student, the daughter of a German automobile industrialist, who owned a company that produced molds for Porsche, Mercedes, VW, Opel and Chrysler ( http://www.wolpert-holding.de/die-gruppe/beckenbach-gmbh.html ).

I also am European born in Italy, and served as a civilian with the U.S. Department of Defense in Germany, so as a U.S. foreign born U.S. patriot I expected proper treatment, without deeply held anti-Semitic and other prejudices targeting me and my Italian mother at the Rockwood clinic, so in the big picture I realize this one physician might have been the exception.

The post 1993 U.S. diagnosed and European verified case of myelopathy, I suffered severe symptoms of, was dismissed by the attending Rockwood physician as a physical example of an emotional outburst in the form of “shaking due to repressed emotions”. Gigliola M. Addini-Stein, whom lives at the house I helped purchase in autumn 2009 for her on Spokane’s South Hill, was a witness to the incident.

The above is a photograph of my obviously Semitic appearance in the autumn of 2000, while enrolled in Graduate School and working as a Professor’s Assistant at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. The Professor Emeritus who had selectively hired me was a Pullman, WA Church of Latter Day Saints Elder, Val E. Limburg, and my Mentor through my M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies at WSU. Professor Limburg purposefully selected me as his Assistant in September 2000, to make a statement against campus prejudice targeting me in the autumn of 2000. I am not Mormon, and am skeptical of institutional forms of religion, though I found his personal Faith and intuition an inspiring example of Courage against Washington State University campus and Catholic prejudice.I then politely, yet firmly, asked the Rockwood physician, as best I could while suffering from muscle spasms and low ability to enunciate normally my words, and barely able to hold my balance if standing, to please refer to the Neurologist for an expert opinion on determining my physical condition, and a medical prescription to help control my condition. Said Rockwood clinic physician refused to consult the Moscow, Idaho and INI documents, refusing the Neurologist’s and
Neuro Surgeon’s diagnosis, and stated very loudly, whereas I had spoken at a normal discussion level, that I was suffering an emotional outburst in the form of “shaking due to repressed emotions”, and, as if he was being coached, that he never wanted me at the Rockwood Clinic ever again. His screaming in the workplace seemed very unprofessional. I write this as a Communication Professional who taught Speech and Persuasion for WSU Professor Emeritus Joe Ayres, and as a top graduate student in Forensic Conversation Analysis under Professor Robert (“Bob”) Nofsinger at WSU.

II. Pertinent information regarding case that might be helpful in making a determination for reinstatement are INI post-surgery documents including x-rays and MRI’s. My sister, Rita Dreager, a former office secretary for two Utah physicians, has been a Rockwood Valley Clinic patient; she now lives in Post Falls, Idaho. She feels that as a private pay patient Rockwood can be accommodating to my needs once issues are simply clarified.

Previously I had been harassed in the Army and Air Force Exchange Service workplace in Heidelberg, Germany after returning to work in December of 1993 after the hit and run, harassed in Spokane, WA Gonzaga University after returning to finish my two Bachelor degrees in 1996, and then at Washington State University for my graduate degrees for such issues as having a Jewish last name, not being a practicing Catholic, for my disinterest in heterosexual conformity under the Church, and I was extensively accused of faking disability, not really being a left arm amputee, not requiring extra space and time in accomplishing typing tasks and vehicle parking, and accused of being a drunk or drug addict for not being able to walk with proper balance like others in the workplace or on campus. Worst yet persons I did not know at all had an opinion about my permanent phantom limb pain condition and sexuality, being a lesbian, which was none of their business.

Thus after seven years of harassment (1993-2000), when the Moscow, Idaho Neurologist made the diagnosis in June 2000, I was finally glad to have a legal leg to stand on against anymore malicious bullying and harassment claiming I walked like a drunk and shook like a drug addict in the workplace and on campus.

I am aware that after the Clinton Administration “don’t ask don’t tell” era the Bush era about to begin in 2000 created a hostile climate for me here in eastern Washington, and my having an Iranian Neurosurgeon as my primary provider in Europe was not to my advantage in the build-up for the War on Terrorism, though being born and educated in Europe I did not realize how entrenched deeply held convictions, perhaps indicative of an extreme conviction in one’s Christian Faith, could generate such a culture of hate. Thus perhaps I was shocked that such convictions could manifest themselves in everyday lives in the workplace in Spokane. Fortunately my Mentor was Mormon and knew that if I were patient I could eventually outlast people’s negative stereotypes regarding their perception about me. At the time I did not realize how to diffuse prejudices that actually are not aimed at me, and I took offense to such behavior rather than tactfully diffuse the situation. Since then I have learned to focus on the positive qualities of Christian Faith in the workplace, not to take any criticism, bullying, nor harassment personally, to let it slide off me like I am of Teflon, and to use these positive qualities to diffuse uncomfortable situations for myself and others. Through invitation of the Office of Cristoph Schonborn, Arch Bishop of Vienna, I attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy (2005-2007) to perform graduate research on religious based prejudices in illegal human trafficking, and the theological arguments from various religious perspectives on the topic of trafficking. Thus I am quite an expert in redirecting prejudice through theological arguments now, as well as using multicultural rather than intercultural, legal and business negotiation strategies.

In retrospect the attending Rockwood physician seemed intent on proving his credibility over a woman, specifically my Moscow, Idaho Neurologist, Barbara Morgan. He was male, fairly young and identifying himself as an orthopedic specialist. My mother, an Italian citizen with also US citizenship, hand carried to Rockwood for me the documents. The Neurologist, Barbara Morgan, MD, of Moscow, Idaho had diagnosed degenerative spinal myelopathy that June 2000, and prescribed an anti-muscle spasm medication, baclofen (06-23-00, 63 tablets at 10MG) that functioned nicely until September, when I was without provocation manhandled with my head thrown against a car frame, physically destabilizing my spinal condition.

Previously, in June 2000, the Baclofen helped prevent me from any further injury after I had been performing an aerobic low weight exercise for my one arm. After a routine exercise I was temporarily unable raise above my chest my right arm for driving due to uncontrollable muscle movements which presented themselves not as “emotional outbursts”, and rather as seizure like symptoms in the form of a flail left leg, inability to walk normally and a shaking of my limbs, including inability to properly hold a pen for writing. Neurologist’s Barbara Morgan’s, MD, diagnosis was later rigorously tested and verified in 2003 and 2007 through extensive testing at the International Neurological Institute under the personal supervision of INI Director and Professor German-Iranian Madjid Samii, MD, neurologist (http://www.ini-hannover.de/en/home.html), who has lectured as Visiting Professor at Stanford, Harvard and UCLA Medical Schools, has been awarded the Sally Harrington Goldwater memorial visiting Professor Award from the Barrow neurological foundation in Phoenix Arizona, and awarded the Sixth Annual Loyd C. Megison, Jr. Visiting Professorship Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, besides being Editorial Board Member and International Liaison and advisory panel member of “Neurosurgery” journal, former  chairman and editorial committee member of “Critical Reviews in Neurosurgery” journal, Editor emeritus of “Skull Base Surgery” journal, Honorary editor of “Neurosurgical Review” journal, Associate editor of “Neurological Research” journal, Advisory board member  of “Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery”, Editorial board member of “Operative Techniques in Neurosurgery” journal, Reviewer of “Neurosurgical Focus” journal, Editorial board member of “Acta Neurochirurgica” journal, Editorial board member of “Neuroanatomy” journal, Advisor of “Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy” journal, and Editorial board member of “Surgical Neurology” journal (http://www.professormadjidsamii.com/en/visiting-professorship.html ).

The specific medical statements with diagnosis are in the accompanying International Neurological Institute  documents with reference to post-surgical documentation on my  “condition after thermocoagulation of the substantia gelatinosa 02/1996 and also 05/1998”:

“Cervical myelopathy with intermittent weakness and coordination disorder of the left leg and reflex increase.” (INI 2005 document);

International Neurological Institute 2007 “Cervical myelopathy with intermittent weakness of the left leg and asynergy of the left leg and exaggerated reflexes.” (INI 2007 document).

III. Steps taken ensuring this behavior does not re-occur requires making certain that my needs are reviewed by a general physician capable of evaluating medical reports without prejudice if my neurologists are a woman, such as Barbara Morgan, MD of Moscow, Idaho or a German-Iranian Director and Professor of the International Neurological Institute, Madjid Samii, MD of Hannover, Germany. As a result of inadequate accommodation in the workplace and university campus, when I returned to Europe in 2003, I insisted on a thorough review of my condition through the European insurance provider, so as to avoid any further issues in the future. Afterwards, not trusting insurance providers in the US since I suffered hardships after filing against my employer, Department of Defense, the EEOC discrimination cases, I prefer private pay primary care providers, avoiding third-party interference in the client-physician relationship. IV. Failure of the attending physician to maintain a therapeutic relationship:  This could be for any number of reasons including third-party interference communicating a prejudice to the attending physician without my knowledge, or failure of the physician to refer to the expertise statements of a woman, Neurologist Barbara Morgan, M.D., of Moscow, Idaho and the expertise of my Neurologist since 1993, Prof. Majid Samii, M.D., Director of the International Neurological Institute, in Hannover, Germany. The Rockwood physician’s refusal was consistent with a policy of my former employer, Army and Air Force Exchange Service (1993-1996) against whom I filed through my Air Force attorney in Frankfurt, Germany, USAF Major (reserves) Edgar R. Jones, 8 EEOC cases consolidated into four EEOC folders (94-197E, 95-016E, 95-053E, and 96-048E) for discrimination, and of Gonzaga University denying my Neurologists’ recommendations for accommodation at the work site and in the classroom.

Thus I merely view the incident as a part of a larger discussion, and do not dwell on it whatsoever.

I shall be honest, I had no ability, under the condition of spasms, to clearly articulate my words, and found myself gasping for air unable to complete my words each clearly and at a high level of clarity, although I was not under any influence of foreign substances, I was simply shaking and, short of breath, struggling to complete my sentences, while insisting on the issue of spinal myelopathy to be properly addressed. I can presume the physician misjudged the reason for my difficulties in my speech and movements, my left leg was not stable and my right arm felt weak, perhaps his judgement was due to an unstated prejudice he held. As a result, when I returned to Europe, I insisted on a thorough review of my condition through the European insurance provider, so as to avoid any further issues in the future. I also insist, to avoid any more acts of reprisal since filling through the EEO against the Department of Defense discrimination, to continue as private pay, which is why, to protect myself, I insisted on a cash settlement against the negligent European male driver who hit me with his automobile as part of a prejudiced anti-Semitic and homophobic attack on me while I was triathlon training on my bicycle in Germany. Prior to the hit and run a court witness saw and overheard the driver with off-duty German police planning the hit and run.

Besides keeping physicians accountable to me, as a private pay patient, rather than to a third-party, I take the precaution of avoiding medications whenever possible. After the initial month long Baclofen intervention by Neurologist Barbara Morgan, M.D., to re-set my neural signal system, I maintain a rigorous and disciplined routine to maximize my endurance while minimizing my loss of balance and hand and leg tremors. Once or twice daily I rest in a hot bath, I work at the computer in a hospital bed style chaise-lounge alleviating stress on my spine and left shoulder, I consume almost a bottle of tonic water with quinine daily (I especially use the quinine after exercise for leg cramps) while supplementing the tendency of a low red blood platelet count with iron tablets and foods high in iron to balance with the quinine use, I use sublingual B-12 supplements to maintain long-term nerve repair, and I stay in shape through training which includes swimming ¼ of a mile with one arm using a swim paddle to reduce the effect of my last finger not closing properly in my only hand’s swim stroke while stretching out my torso reducing the impact of jogging on the spine, and bicycling with a left arm prosthetic crutch I designed myself,

alleviating back strain and assisting my left leg by overcompensating with my right leg through the distribution system of a bicycle, where the right leg pulls up the right pedal in helping my left leg push down on the left pedal. This system has helped me develop a fairly uniform appearance of muscle formation on both legs, although the actual leg strength does differ and the difference in leg reflexes is still notably different. Yet if someone is not aware of my handicap I pass easily as able-bodied.

My mother, above, is pictured demonstrating my invention for a bicycle crutch that swivels with my left shoulder movement. Just this invention of mine, which my German insurance refused to pay for, has substituted for physical therapy saving me thousands of dollars annually. I previously required physical therapy twice weekly. As a private pay patient/inventor I paid Germany’s Schlierbach Orthopaedisch Prosthetic Laboratory to put the idea together on a Gunther Haritz and Eddie Merckz chronometer bicycle. This homeopathic combination of diet and exercise I developed has helped me stabilize my condition since 2003. Obviously when I as a patient am treated and respected as the private pay client, it is a win-win relationship because I want the best possible result for both myself and my physician, and by thinking outside of the box some interesting inventions even occur improving my health while minimizing expenses.

Thus, because I pass for able-bodied, I do often have to insist on handicap accommodation, and this is where the element of prejudice is often triggered. Having the State of Washington issued parking permit displayed usually terminates any further harassment and false accusations about me. Thus I do request consideration of my case so that I can renew my State of Washington handicap parking permit, as a private pay client, while here in Spokane assisting my mother.

Sincerely, Silvia Stein

Silvia Stein | Washington State University - Academia.edu

PhD studies in Psychophysiology and Strategic Communication

MA Degree Communication Studies and Rhetoric

BA Degrees Italian Studies and BA Political Science