TO TELL THE

A Mother's Heartbreak

Could proper medical intervention

have saved her daughter's life?

What really caused the death of 24-year-old Leslye Anne Piper, a vibrant and healthy Flagstaff mother of three?

How did it happen? Why did it happen? And what can we learn from this tragedy?

These questions will haunt us for a very long time until we know the verifiable factors that contributed to her untimely death. If her mother Leslye Kinkade’s disturbing testimonial bears any weight, then the lack of a formal medical investigation in this case will continue to haunt us as well.

Leslye Anne Piper suddenly passed away in 2005 within days of giving birth to her third child. While the medical examiner ruled nothing amiss in her case, her mother and others, including several doctors, believe otherwise.

The Sedona Observer has invited the medical authorities involved in this case to present their side of the facts. Until we receive their statements, Leslye Anne's medical records point to some questionable holes left by a detached system that may have also left Jazmen, age 2; James, age 4; and Leslye Marie, age 9, with an even bigger hole – the lack of a mother for the rest of their lives.

We placed Leslye Kincade's story on our front page - over the economy, the war and the elections - because we believe it represents the epitome of how the current health care system is destroying American families. Before we move on to her testimonial, let's look at why the media must start reporting such stories.

Broken, bankrupt and debauched

Like a gaping wound that becomes uglier each day before it begins to heal, America’s health care industry remains in critical condition and in need of serious intensive care.

In order to mend a broken system, we cannot wait for some far-off election with the vague hope that new leadership will take the medical bull by the horns in 2009 so America can experience healing by 2010. Like the case of Leslye Anne, that will unfortunately be too late.

The alarm clock isn’t simply ticking; we have completely run out of time and must wake up now. Too many people are hurting, suffering and dying. That’s why The Sedona Observer believes that in order to change the dysfunction of the current health care system, we must change the media dysfunction first because it serves as the primary vehicle of information that shapes public thought.

The press must resume its moral responsibility to serve as agents of truth instead of courtiers of power. Therefore, we need to investigate reports of rampant abuse, runaway greed, blatant neglect, undisclosed alternatives and the numerous allegations surfacing about the medical industry submitted to us by nurses, doctors and patients for public scrutiny.

Only by allowing these stories to be heard will we find a way to resolve the massive crisis plaguing us as a nation.

Telling the stories of our time

We also believe that the vast majority of medical personnel have the biggest hearts on the planet; that’s why they chose health care. As hard-working, diligent professionals dedicated to wellness, many of them remain unsung heroes. The press should be singing their praises too and give credit where it’s due.

Furthermore, the media must encourage medical practitioners, industry employees and the general public to come forward with their testimonials so it can examine what is wrong and where the problem lies, as well as explore possible alternatives for the surgery needed to correct and prevent. Slapping mere Band-Aids on severed arteries will only bleed us to death.

The Sedona Observer has initiated this process by publishing the allegations and letters flooding our e-mail on behalf of the public good in compliance with media law and journalism ethics; reading in between the lines of medical industry reports to expose the truth; examining current data about pharmaceutical and industry practices; probing sources of medical industry information to separate the wheat from the chaff; replacing surface news reporting with in-depth issue analysis; and even gathering stories for our upcoming “Health Care Heroes” series.

Most importantly, we shun advertising so that we’re not forced to censor allegations about a medical clinic, hospital or pharmaceutical company because of their expensive full-page ads that provide media revenues. Instead, we believe the time has come to change the way the media conducts its business altogether. (See our MEDIA REFORM page for more information, the WHY page for our mission, and the HOW page for our modus operandi). In that, journalism shares much in common with medicine.

We strongly urge our fellow media to follow suit for the sake of human health and life. While we do not publish these testimonials as factual but only as claims to document the social conditions and challenges of our time, we feel it will help wake up Americans to look deeper at the systems we regard with veneration and without question – because these stories suggest there is something deeply wrong on a much more intrinsic level.

Health care: the issue that unites us all  

We encourage media to focus more on health care because it is the one issue that unites us all as Americans. Rich or poor, young or old, male or female, Democrat or Republican, black or white, insured or uninsured – no one is immune from the imminent scourge of America’s health care industry that remains unselective in who it will rip off, overmedicate, chew up and leave for dead – as in the case of 24-year-old Leslye Anne.

Among the dozens of health-care horror stories pouring in to The Sedona Observer from all over the country, this one from Flagstaff, Ariz., captured  us so tightly in its poignant grip that we decided it warranted our front page for all the world to see.

Leslye Anne Piper was a vibrant woman in the bloom of youth, a wife and mother of three young children whose life was surreptitiously cut short. When her distraught mother contacted us about this story, we asked if she would put it in writing and talk about it on video as well. Read and listen to Leslye Kincade in her own words.

WATCH THE KINCADE VIDEO

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN  
            

The story of Leslye Anne Piper

as told to The Sedona Observer

by Leslye C. Kincade

“This is in response to an e-mail from a friend showing me The Sedona Observer and their doing stories about medical horrors. I personally have three cases that happened within about 10 months’ time in 2005.

The first one involves the death of my daughter, Leslye Anne Piper, who had just given birth to her third child on October 1, 2005, at age 24. Leslye Anne’s pregnancy was considered high-risk since she had once been diagnosed with Preeclampsia – a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and characterized by high blood pressure, swelling, sudden weight gain and headaches.

Her doctor, who had a practice in Flagstaff along with two others, claimed to be a physician trained in high-risk pregnancy, and his affiliated hospital also advertised this claim.”

Running the red light

“Leslye Anne had an extremely high level of edema at approximately 18 weeks of pregnancy, which should have signaled a red light immediately to the doctor. Instead, she was told that she was just ‘tired of being pregnant.’

She had been complaining of pain on her right side right below her ribs. Again, Leslye Anne was told that she was tired of being pregnant and that her symptoms were psychological problems and not medical ones. Many women encounter this type of response when reporting their medical symptoms.

She was also being seen by another female doctor in the practice who was rude and definitely had a problem. Leslye Anne and I both kept requesting that she (the doctor) not be allowed to see Leslye Anne since there was evidently some kind of personality conflict. We were told that they would try to put her in with the third doctor, or the main doctor, when they could.

In June 2005 Leslye Anne went to the doctor and complained about severe cramping. She was told by the female doctor that she would be tested for a secretion indicating that early labor could be detected. It came back positive. They put her in the hospital, where she developed a migraine headache and leg pain, in addition to vomiting.”

Passing the baton

“The main doctor, who was supposed to be a perinatologist, wasn’t coming in to see Leslye Anne. Instead, he was having the female doctor come in but she never even saw my daughter.

The female doctor would write in her chart and give orders but never spoke to Leslye Anne face-to-face. The doctors would let my daughter go for days without ever having any doctor come into the room. I have medical records and court documents to prove it.  

Leslye Anne’s blood pressure and temperature would fluctuate from very low to high. At one point, the third doctor came in and referred her to a perinatologist.

But the nurses were told by the hospital administrator not to call the perinatologist (apparently because such a specialist would cost significantly more money) and that the other doctor, who was just a gynecologist, would take care of her. She was discharged on bed rest on July 24, 2005.”

“It’s all in your head”

“In August, while Leslye Anne kept complaining about having difficulty breathing, she was  not experiencing any asthma, however. She also complained that she couldn’t eat or drink and keep anything down.

We kept going to the Labor and Delivery floor where a few of the nurses are very nice. Some other nurses, however, started calling my daughter a liar and stated that she couldn’t be gaining weight if she couldn’t eat or drink. But you can if you are retaining fluids, especially if you have Preeclampsia. Yet no one seemed to pay any attention to that.

I kept pointing out that her lips were turning a bluish color and that I was really beginning to worry due to that and her fluid retention. Still, they told me not to worry and that she was just ‘tired of being pregnant.’  

In September, once again, we were at Labor and Delivery and the doctor’s office. And, once again, we were told that it was all in Leslye Anne’s head. Meanwhile, my other daughter was being told that I was getting too involved and that I needed to stay out of things.”

A mother’s plea

“We begged for them to do an induction and, because this particular doctor was already under investigation for bringing another baby too prematurely, he would not do anything. He said there was nothing that he could or would do to make my daughter’s life a little easier and never gave any specific answers why.

From a mother’s point of view, I knew her concerns were valid – the steady but inexplicable weight gain of 80 pounds, tremendous swelling, blue lips, fluctuating blood pressure and headaches. We brought up the issue of Preeclampsia – which we had to mention to the doctor, not the other way around. Instead, he said he was firm and ruled it out as a possibility, emphasizing that the problems were inside Leslye Anne’s head.  

As a mother, I knew that it wasn’t in her head and that we had issues that really needed to be taken care of. Anyone (but the doctor, obviously) could see there was a serious medical problem here. But I just didn’t know how to go about getting the help that she needed.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You...

Check out The Sedona Observer on the big screen

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In Our Next Issue

Homeless in Arizona, Part 2

The Royal Treatment

"Getting new digs on Route 66"

Flagstaff's homeless find a regal welcome at the Royal Inn as one couple opens their motel doors and hearts for the city's have-nots.

Read the full preview here to learn how you can help, or e-mail lbroyalinn@yahoo.com.

READ PART 1 ON THE HOMELESS - Down and Out in Arizona

The Sedona Observer extends special acknowledgement to Barbara Hansen of HealthcarePhotos.com for images appearing here and on other the health-care pages. Thank you, Barbara, and all those writers and artists who made a contribution. See our Masthead and Bios on the WHO page for more information.

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