I sought assistance from Congressman Elton Gallegly's Thousand Oaks Office in June 2007, after the Department of Health and Human Services refused to review a HIPAA violation involving my dying daughter, citing a 180-day time limit.

I requested the congressman's assistance in obtaining a waiver, which, according to this federal agency, may occur if an individual has been actively pursuing other administrative remedies, which I had and was able to prove.

My requests for updates always resulted in a nonchalant, ineffective and uninterested response, until July 14, 2008 when one of his representatives stated, "Your daughter is dead, get over it" and hung up.

Extreme verbal abuse to a constituent seeking assistance should never be tolerated. Government employees must be held to the same standard of behavior as the general public. Hillarie Levy Simi Valley