00:00Alright, as always, you can go to YouTube channel My Medical Nightmare and see a 40 plus
00:07hours video on everything that happened to me.
00:10I still say this is Debra.
00:11How may I help you?
00:12Hello, I'm trying to reach Debra Pickens.
00:15This is she.
00:16Hello, ma'am.
00:16I was returning your call from a few weeks ago.
00:19Yes.
00:22You had indicated that you wanted to talk to me, and so I was returning your call.
00:28I spoke to your CEO, Dr. Robert Records, okay, and this was in May.
00:34He told me that you were going to look at some issues that I had done.
00:39I spoke to him for 30 minutes and went through my issues in rather intricate detail.
00:47He told me you were going to contact me.
00:49I've got to have somebody, a medically licensed doctor in the state of Alabama that works for
00:56you guys.
00:56You've got to look at my records.
00:59You've got to look at those images, or you've got to get in touch with somebody who can look
01:02at those images from 2019 and getting me a correct diagnosis on the state of my physical
01:08condition when I brought it in to your medical practice.
01:13Okay, so let me begin with this team member who is very good at finding this forward for
01:18us.
01:18I can't tell you what time she's going to call you back because I've got to go find her.
01:22Bring what you said to me to her, and then have her call you, and she probably can leave
01:28the exact return number of her phone.
01:30Okay, what's the name of this person?
01:33Debra Pickens.
01:34Is she a medical doctor, licensed in Alabama, nurse?
01:38She's our compliance officer.
01:40She's not medically licensed.
01:42She's not medically licensed, but she speaks for all of our medically licensed professionals.
01:46You, on the other hand, sir, are a CEO of a company and a state of Alabama licensed medical
01:52doctor, and I think you could do a lot more for me, but it seems like you're not that
01:57willing to help out.
01:58Well, I don't read CT scans.
02:01At the end of the day, I don't read CT scans at all.
02:04But I think that you could get in touch with somebody to correct this issue for me because
02:08it's huge.
02:09And I'm going to take it immediately to our compliance officer and to our quality team
02:13to start a case within our organization to figure out how do we help with what you just
02:19told me just now.
02:20Can you tell me why it took seven weeks for you to return my call initially?
02:26I returned your call the same day that you talked with Dr. Record.
02:32I left a message on, so it has taken you some time to get back.
02:38The responsibility rests on your shoulders and the shoulders of Cross Health Center, ma'am.
02:44You're liable for damages against a patient who went to you for medical treatment.
02:51We're not liable.
02:52We're not liable for any damages.
02:53Yeah, you are.
02:54But feel free, listen to this, feel free to talk to a lawyer if you want.
03:00However, you also need to tell that lawyer that we are a Federal Tort Act claim entity.
03:08And so any claim that you have will have to be made against the federal government, not
03:12against us.
03:14Okay, you're asking for my date of birth.
03:18Do you possess any medical credentials?
03:20Are you licensed in the state of Alabama as a nurse or a doctor, ma'am?
03:24I'm a lawyer.
03:25Okay, you're talking about medical issues.
03:28Well, you don't sound like a very good lawyer to me.
03:31And I will not access your chart without a date of birth.
03:34I certainly hope not.
03:35That is a hypocrite.
03:36You know, as a lawyer, I think you've already said too much.
03:40We treated you at the time in a way that it was medically appropriate.
03:47No, ma'am.
03:48And if you have a concern about that, you can see a lawyer.
03:51And I'm not the only one that has a concern about it.
03:53We're not going to be doing anything else in that regard.
03:57You speak for Christ Health Center, and I think you poorly represent that medical practice.
04:04I hope everybody out there, they listen to your words and consider them when they are
04:09thinking about seeking medical treatment in Birmingham, Alabama.
04:12So when is the board going to get back to me on these issues?
04:15Well, the board is not going to get back to you.
04:17We will send you a letter saying...
04:19Or somebody, right?
04:20Because you don't know who you're talking to, right?
04:22If they don't recommend any further action, we will send you a letter that your grievance
04:29has been investigated.
04:30Your answer is not acceptable.
04:33This issue is far from over.
04:35That's your decision.
04:36No, it's not.
04:37I'm talking to you right now.
04:39We can fix this matter today.
04:41We're not taking any further action unless the board directs us to.
04:46Well, you're negligent and you're liable.
04:48And so are your doctors and your medical practice.
04:50I almost died from these injuries.
04:52I was billed for medical procedures that I wasn't given.
04:55You can fix that kind of a thing.
04:57It's unacceptable.
04:59Here at Christ Health Center?
05:00I went to Christ Health Center.
05:02Yes, ma'am.
05:04And you were billed for services you did not receive at Christ Health Center?
05:08What I'm discussing now, I already went through all this stuff.
05:11You should have this in front of you.
05:13Well, I'm afraid there's a difference of opinion.
05:15We have reviewed the charts and you were treated appropriately.
05:20Yeah, and on top of that, my records were altered by Dr. Beverly Varnerpool, EMD, days after that visit with Terry Daniel Smith on May 9th.
05:33Why were my charts edited days after it should have been locked into the record?
05:38I never saw Dr. Beverly Varnerpool.
05:42Why was a doctor that I didn't see at your medical practice signing off on my records?
05:48If Dr. Varnerpool was a preceptor and if the provider you saw was a resident, then Dr. Varnerpool had to sign off on the record.
05:57Well, no, no, she didn't because the records were signed off on originally and then they were altered and changed by somebody for some reason.
06:08And I'm dealing with millions of dollars of fraud and negligence with your business partner, Ascension St. Vincent's East Hospital for misdiagnosis.
06:21I broke the underside of my skull. They misdiagnosed me. I was referred to your clinic and I was mistreated by your clinic as well.
06:30Any claims you have against Ascension, you'll need to bring to Ascension's attention. You were not mistreated by our clinic.
06:36Yes, I was. And I've got evidence. And I await that decision from your board.
06:42This was a May 17th telephone conversation with Debra Pickens. Her official title is listed variously.
06:52One source on the internet mentioned she is the Director of Administrative Services.
06:57CEO Robert Record, who I spoke to in May 2023 in a 30-minute phone call, he referred to this person as a compliance officer.
07:10I was told she was going to call me after taking a look at my situation and we did not get connected on the telephone until August 14th.
07:21In this clip, Debra Pickens makes a profound statement.
07:26She claims Christ Health and their doctors and nurses are not liable for any damages against me.
07:33But she neglects to give the name of a medically certified professional to back that up.
07:41And Debra Pickens cannot make this statement and stand behind it because, as you can hear, she possesses no medical credentials.
07:50She's not licensed as a doctor or nurse in the state of Alabama.
07:54So she doesn't know if I receive the correct health care and treatment during my visits as a patient or not.
08:01And what's obvious about my dealings with Christ Health is they make it up as they go along.
08:08They issue statements without backing them up.
08:12I was a patient for Christ Health Center, Dr. Terry Daniel Smith, MD, as well as nurse practitioner Anna Musgraves in 2019.
08:24I had a broken skull injury and head trauma that I almost died from.
08:29The wound became infected with parasites as well as three inch long insects and worms that you can see in various x-rays, MRI, and CT that I had done.
08:43At the time I visited Christ Health Center, I was trying to get an MRI scan.
08:49And I had a lot of trouble doing this.
08:51I believe that some person involved in my health care and treatment may have gone to some length to deny me health care, specifically more detailed scans on this area.
09:05Because days before the Christ Health visit, I went to the Ascension St. Vincent's East Emergency Department where I had a computed tomography scan of my head and cervical area of my neck.
09:18I was misdiagnosed in that scan.
09:22The radiologist and the doctors in the emergency room, they would not note an injury that I later found in the images.
09:32And I'll put them up here so everybody can see.
09:34My rundown of issues with Christ Health Center, Birmingham, Alabama.
09:38I believe I received no measurable level of service in my visit.
09:44I was charged the same amount of money, $110, to see the doctor and MD as the nurse, a nurse practitioner.
09:54Other medical practices around Birmingham, I paid roughly half of that price.
10:02Christ Health is partners with Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital.
10:07And it looks like either Christ Health decided to ignore my injury or were ordered to ignore my injury.
10:15And I believe this is to protect the reputations and million-dollar salaries of the, quote, professionals, unquote, involved.
10:23I also believe it may have been patient dumped.
10:25And that's a violation of EMTALA, E-M-T-A-L-A, in the course of my seeking treatment.
10:31I was a self-paid patient.
10:33I had no insurance.
10:35And I could provide no stated source of income.
10:38Dr. Terry Daniel Smith, MD, outright refused to grant me a referral for an MRI.
10:45Just a few days later, I got that MRI.
10:48I had to pay cash out of pocket.
10:50And broken bone surrounded by infection shows up in that scan.
10:56Broken bone also shows up in the CT scan.
10:59He claims in his notes in my medical chart to have reviewed in detail.
11:05I was billed $50 for a hemoglobin blood test and electrocardiogram I never received.
11:12And yeah, I think taking money from people who don't have anything, such as myself, is obscene.
11:19Nurse Musgraves wrote in her report that she suspected psych etiology to explain my symptomology.
11:26And this is absolutely wrong.
11:28Broken skull bone is visible in the MRI, CT, and X-ray that I've had done.
11:34Nurse practitioner Anna Musgraves agreed to give a referral when I secured my MRI.
11:42So I had to go out and find another medical practice with the equipment who could do the scan.
11:48I was given three avenues of financial assistance to pursue, and all three of these led to dead ends.
11:57I did not qualify.
11:59This is for Ascension Access to Care, Cooper Green Hospital, and UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.
12:05After I paid $500 cash out of pocket for an MRI at American Health Imaging in downtown Birmingham on the south side,
12:16the diagnostic center staff told me that they needed a medical referral.
12:22I informed them to call Christ Health Center in Woodlawn.
12:27They were put on hold 15 minutes, and then someone, we don't know who, at Christ Health Center hung up the telephone.
12:36They backed out on giving that referral.
12:38I believe somebody didn't want me to get this MRI scan because it would show the truth of an injury that I was told I did not have.
12:47A medical doctor I had no interaction with, also strangely edited, and signed off on my records and chart days following that visit.
12:59This was shortly after I lodged my first official complaint for lack of service from Christ Health.
13:07This doctor was Beverly Vanderpool.
13:10I put all my records from this visit in several hours' worth of video on YouTube channel, My Medical Nightmare.
13:19You can go there and see my side of this story.
13:23Deborah Pickens also tells me that a letter with a statement was going to be put in the mail to me after that August 2023 meeting.
13:34And what I can say is I have not yet received this promised letter.
13:40One year later, they know my address, too, because they sent me those bills for those medical services that weren't performed on me.
13:47So people out there looking at health care options in the Birmingham, Alabama area, please take my experience to heart.
13:57And I would advise that you look elsewhere when seeking medical treatment from a doctor or a nurse.
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