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Three patients filed lawsuits late last week against Kaiser Permanente - the giant HMO accused of denying its members kidney transplants because of paperwork errors.

One man died after Kaiser refused him a kidney transplant as a result of mishandled paperwork. His widow is one of the three plaintiffs suing the HMO. Another woman claims that her condition progressively worsened after Kaiser continually delayed her transplant.

Phillip Maxson, the third plaintiff, alleged that a Kaiser doctor advised him on several occasions to travel overseas to get a kidney transplant. The lawsuit provides little consolation for Maxson, who has been on dialysis for six years and fears the damage the delay may have caused him.

“My biggest fear is when a kidney comes up, they''re going to say, ‘Your condition is so deteriorated, we''re not going to give you one,''” he said.

Kaiser''s kidney transplant program fell under fire last week after a Los Angeles times investigation revealed its failure to transplant ideally matched kidneys to 25 patients. Hundreds of others were left in limbo as a result of bureaucratic delays.

The HMO has since suspended its transplant program and issued an apology to patients.

Some lawyers have suggested that these suits mark the first in what could be a deluge of cases against Kaiser over the kidney transplant debacle.

Jeffrey Milman, a Newport Beach lawyer, said, “My guess is that there''s probably at least 1,000 or more people out there that have been wronged. The question is to what extent.”