McGhan warned not to talk with "patients"
INTEROFFICE MEMO
DATE: March 24, 1993
TO: All Managers
FROM: JoAnne Sanchez, Customer Affairs Department
RE: Court Ruling Regarding Conversations with Patients
This memo is to reiterate and update the information supplied in my memo of February 3, 1993 regarding this subject.
Please be aware that a recent court ruling has prohibited all breast implant manufacturers from having oral communications with patients who are recipients of silicone gel breast implants, or members of their families, unless the conversation is being recorded. Because McGhan Medical does not have the capability of recording phone conversations, we are not allowed to have any discussions with patients who have now or have ever had gel implants. It is extremely important that ALL employees abide by this ruling.
Please notify all of your employees that might have telephone contact with patients of this ruling. The switchboard operators will try to screen all calls and forward any patient calls to Ext. 295, where a recorded message will inform them that, if they have silicone gel mammary implants, they must contact us in writing. Please call Ext. 295 to familiarize yourself with the message patients will hear.
Some patient calls will get through to the Customer Affairs Department, which handles claims, and we will explain the court ruling and transfer them to Ext. 295. If the call is urgent, we will inform the patient that we can speak with their doctor if he or she calls us.
There will be times when patient calls will get through to other departments. In some cases, a patient may have previously spoken with someone and ask for that person by name, or simply ask for a certain department.
Because of that, employees must be aware of the ruling, and must ask any caller whose status is unknown if they are a patient. This must be done at the beginning of the
MCG 167999
McChan Medical Corporation 700 Ward Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93111-2936,
805/683-6761, Fax:805/967-5839
MEMO REGARDING PATIENT CALLS
March 25, 1993
Page Two
Call. If the caller is a patient, the employee must explain that all patient calls must first go to a recorded message for further instructions, and then transfer the call to Ext. 295. If the patient persists, the employee should apologize for the inconvenience, explain that we are required to do this because of a court ruling, and transfer the call to Ext. 295. If the patient still insists on speaking with someone, the employee can transfer the call to Customer Affairs, Ext. 212 or Ext. 213.
There are some circumstances under which a manufacturer can speak with a patient without recording the conversation. The Customer Affairs
Department can make this determination, and can transfer the calls to other departments when appropriate. We are allowed, for instance, to talk to patients who call about products other than silicone gel breast implants. However, we must determine at the beginning of the conversation if the patient has ever had a McGhan silicone gel breast implant, and if so, the call must be transferred to Ext. 295.
Please inform the appropriate people in your department of this ruling, and that it is important to determine at the beginning of any call that they are unsure of if the caller is a patient. Employees should notify our department of any difficult situations that occur.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this matter.
MCG 168000
Third image is a copy of the first page of this memo, attached to it are a list of names. These people were to sign and return. Handwritten at bottom of this list: 3-13-92-PLEASE EXPIDITE ROUTING-SEE NOTE ON PAGE 2.
Thanks.
Handwritten at the side of this list is as follows (arrow pointing to list)
See memo's circulated, file for Signed Copy.
The List says:(they were to initial and date it)
PLEASE CIRCULATE
Paul Colligan
Deanna Cordero
Ed Currie
Deborah Garcia
Rich Harvey
Leslie Henderson
Marianne Henry
Lucia Kehl
Tim Kirkelie
Diane Krohn
Richard Merrill
Maria Meza
Laurel Orman
Jaun Perez
John Pirone
Richard Rance
Harvey Reder
Greg Reiss
Hector Rodriguez
Barrett Waybright
Donna Windsor
Please return to Bill WHEN ROUTING IS COMPLETE