A mother-of-two is suing Jeff Bezos’ Amazon One Medical for negligence, after she claims a ‘failed’ video consultation led to her husband’s death.
In a court filing, Suzanne Wong from Oakland, California, reveals that her husband Philip signed up for for One Medical membership to get treatment for diabetes and a severe flu-like illness.
The biotech worker had had an initial consultation, but when his symptoms worsened, he contacted his assigned doctors and was booked in for a same-day video appointment.
The court document states that in that visit, ‘in addition to other symptoms, Mr Tong was short of breath and had blue feet, but was simply told to take an inhaler’.
Hours later, the 45-year-old was rushed to the emergency department at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, where he ‘collapsed in the waiting room and expired’.
The filing claims that ‘to a reasonable degree of medical certainty’, if Mr Tong had of received the ‘proper care, treatment and follow up’ at his appointment with Amazon One Medical on December 18, 2023 he would have survived.
Mrs Tong, who works as a family lawyer, said that her husband’s death was a complete shock.
At his December 28 funeral, she told friends and family: ‘I think we’re all in shock right now.
Philip Wong from Oakland, California, (pictured above with his family) signed up for for One Medical membership to get treatment for diabetes and a severe flu-like illness. He later died
‘I think no one expected a 45-year-old man who had the flu to suddenly be dead. We wanted to take these little kids everywhere. We wanted to show them the world.
‘And to have him taken so quickly, so unexpectedly – there are no words.’
Mrs Tong’s lawsuit, which includes her two young daughters listed as plaintiffs, was filed in Alameda County Superior Court in October and it also accuses the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center of malpractice.
It claims that staff at both the hospital and One Medical ‘negligently, recklessly an carelessly failed to properly monitor, evaluate, control, advise for, perform, manage, supervise, treat or care for’ Mr Tong.
In turn, the filing says this chain of events and Mr Tong’s death caused ‘extreme suffering, emotional distress and psychological trauma’ to the family he left behind.
It appears to be the first wrongful-death suit to be brought against One Medical.
Amazon closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary care organization in February 2023.
The e-commerce giant said at the time that the buyout was a key component of its growing health care business, which includes its online drugstore Amazon Pharmacy and a patient to doctor messaging service called Amazon Clinic.
One Medical, which was owned by San Francisco-based 1Life Healthcare Inc, has more than 800,000 members and over 200 medical offices in more than 20 markets.
Its membership-based service offers 24-hour virtual care as well as in-person visits.
Amazon offers its Prime members a steeply discounted membership, with customers able to add the virtual healthcare service to their subscriptions for just $9 per month – or $99 a year.
This is compared to the standard cost of $16.59 a month, or $199 annually.
Prime members can add up to five additional family members to their One Medical subscription for $6 per month for each family member.
In-person visits to a clinic are charged through insurance or out-of-pocket.
For years, Amazon and other tech giants, including Walmart and Costco, have been working to break into the telehealth sphere – with varying degrees of success.
It appears to be the first wrongful-death suit to be brought against One Medical
In many cases, privacy laws relating to healthcare have impeded rapid growth and adoption.
Amazon runs its own online pharmacy, which grew out of its $750 million acquisition of prescription drug company PillPack in 2018.
Haven, a joint venture between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase to lower employee healthcare costs, disbanded in 2021 after three years.
In August 2021 the company also shut down its Amazon Care telehealth service amid broader cost-cutting efforts.
But in November 2022 it launched Amazon Clinic – a marketplace where customers can have text-based or video visits with doctors.
It is effectively a partnership between the company and a series of digital health startups.
Before the sale, anti-monopoly groups called on the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon’s purchase of the company, arguing it would endanger patient privacy and give the online retailer more dominance in the marketplace.
The One Medical purchase was the first acquisition made by former Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021.
Mr Jassy saw health care as a growth opportunity for the company.
‘Customers want and deserve better, and that’s what One Medical has been working and innovating on for more than a decade.
‘Together, we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone,’ Mr Jassy said in a statement at the time.
DailyMail.com has contacted One Medical for comment on Mr Tong’s case.
The next court meeting is scheduled for March.
