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Public Rebuttal to Becky Moburg and KU's TUKHS
Title: The Letter That Proves the Cover-Up: Our Response to Rebecca Moburg, RN
Context:In July 2023, Rebecca Moburg, the Director of Patient Experience at The University of Kansas Health System (TUKHS), issued a formal letter in response to our longstanding concerns regarding the care and treatment of Nicole Henry. Her letter was a carefully worded attempt to dismiss, diminish, and deflect rather than address the documented failures in Nicole’s care. What follows is our formal, public rebuttal to her statements and omissions.
1. The Claim: No Evidence of Concealment
Moburg asserts: “We have found no evidence that any diagnosis has been concealed by TUKHS providers.”
Our Response:
TUKHS providers did not document the adrenal mass noted on the September 10, 2019 MRCP, despite citing the same report to Nicole in subsequent notes. Dr. Safavi reviewed the MRCP report, noted a "possible small stone," but omitted any reference to the left adrenal adenoma and the 19.8 cm liver as well as what looks to be a stricture that is described as an "Artifact." We believe this to be the faulty bile stent placed by Shireman on September 3rd 2019 that was subsequently ignored and denied. This omission was not accidental — it was consistent, repeated, and mirrored by other physicians across Nicole’s care. That is concealment.
2. The Claim: Valproic Acid Was Prescribed Without Suspicion of AIH
Moburg states: “There was no evidence or suspicion of autoimmune hepatitis noted in the EMR at the time this medication was prescribed or after.”
Our Response:
Dr. Safavi ordered an ASMA test, which returned positive at 1:160 on November 12, 2019. What proves she suspected autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) are the labs she ordered on November 25, 2019 — immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM), hepatitis B core antibodies, hepatitis C antibodies with reflex to PCR, and alpha-1 antitrypsin. These are the exact labs ordered when trying to rule in or out autoimmune hepatitis.
That same day, she:
- Referred Nicole to rheumatology for "suspected fibromyalgia"
- Prescribed valproic acid, a drug with a black box warning for hepatotoxicity
- Told Nicole’s husband, unprompted: "It might make her sleepy"
Nicole fell asleep around 11 a.m. on December 5, 2019, and did not fully regain consciousness until the evening of December 8. That wasn’t coincidence. It was a coma. And yet, on November 25, 2019, Safavi prescribed valproic acid to a patient who had:
- Elevated liver enzymes
- A documented positive ASMA
- A history of hepatic stress
If that doesn’t constitute negligence, what does? The coma that followed was not unforeseeable. It was inevitable.
3. The Claim: There Was No Hepatic Encephalopathy
Moburg dismisses the claim entirely: “At no point was Ms. Henry treated for an encephalopathic coma at TUKHS.”
Our Response:
Correct. She wasn’t treated. That’s the problem. Nicole became nonverbal, unresponsive, and immobile between December 5–8, 2019. Safavi was contacted and advised, "If she’s sleepier than usual, let her rest. It’s probably the new medication." That was the treatment: sleep it off. Nicole survived on her own, but her neurological symptoms never fully resolved. Her records show a stutter and slurred speech following that period — evidence ignored, unrecorded, and recast as psychiatric.
4. The Claim: No Sign of Adrenal Disease in the Records
Moburg: “In fact, Ms. Henry’s May 20, 2020 CT scan of her abdomen and pelvis indicated unremarkable adrenal glands.”
Our Response:
Moburg fails to acknowledge:
- The 2019 MRCP did show a left adrenal adenoma
- That image and report were in TUKHS possession by January 2020
- By 2023, the mass had grown to 23 x 9 mm
- By 2024, the growth rate was estimated at 6.4 mm/year — indicative of malignancy, per numerous endocrinological studies
Moburg’s dismissal ignores not just the image, but its timeline.
5. The Psychiatric Note Upload — An Act of Bias
Moburg tries to brush this off: “Physicians and staff do not access patients’ EMRs through MyChart..."
Our Response:
The issue is not how they accessed it. The issue is what they uploaded: a psychiatric consult note from Dr. James Trahan that accuses Nicole of psychosomatic behavior, belittles her symptoms, and suggests antipsychotic medication. This note appeared under "Outside Labs" in Nicole’s KU Health MyChart — a category reserved for objective data like imaging and bloodwork.
Its placement created an automatic, biased framework through which future providers viewed Nicole. It poisoned the well. We believe this was not an error. It was a strategic upload.
Final Word:
Rebecca Moburg's letter is not a defense of care. It is a polished legal shield. It speaks volumes not through what it says, but through what it avoids. This is not how a health system shows accountability. This is how a health system protects itself.
If KU Health believes this rebuttal is unfair or inaccurate, it has the full opportunity to respond. We are not afraid of scrutiny. Can they say the same?