Hospital May Have Falsified Records Of Allegedly Neglected Patient

For original article click here.
 
Investigators said Friday that staffers at Kings County Hospital falsified records and lied to authorities in an attempt to cover up the neglect of a patient who died in the waiting room.
 
The Department of Investigation released a report exactly one year after 49-year-old Esmin Green was allegedly ignored by employees at the hospital's psychiatric emergency room for 24 hours.
 
Investigators said she collapsed from a blood clot, then laid on the floor for an hour before a nurse checked her pulse and found she was dead.
 
Six hospital employees lost their jobs because of the incident, but the DOI probe raises the possibility that some could also face criminal charges.
 
The report cites factual inconsistencies in medical records kept by several doctors and nurses at the hospital, saying they had checked up regularly on the patient. Such claims were contradicted by security footage.
 
"The hospital and its officials were extremely disturbed by what happened and have done a complete overhaul of procedures," said Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.
 
The city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Green's family for $2 million.
 
But in the wake of the report, Green's daughter is calling for authorities to criminally prosecute those involved.
 
"Whoever committed a criminal act with regard to the death of their mother, or attempted to cover up her death should be sent to jail," said Green family attorney Sanford Rubenstein.
 
At a rally and vigil held outside the hospital on Friday, advocates said they want significant changes and called for an overhaul of the psychiatric system.
 
"This happens everyday all over the place, it is beyond Kings County," said Lauren Tenney of We The People. "This is an international problem that we are dealing with."
 
In a statement, the city Health and Hospitals Corporation said, "After a year of hard work, the psychiatric patient experience at Kings County is radically improved and we continue to work to make it a model program grounded in compassion, rehabilitation and recovery-centered care."
 
A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney's office said the report's findings are being reviewed.

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In other news...

Below is from CBS-TV, which also quotes a protester:

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Possible Criminal Charges In Death At NYC Hospital

Report: Staffers Falsified Records, Lied To Authorities In Neglect Of Esmin Green, Who Died On Waiting Room Floor

Reporting Lou Young 

WCBS TV -- NEW YORK (CBS) --

original article click here: http://wcbstv.com/topsto
 
Surveillance video footage from Kings County Hospital shows a woman dying on the floor of a psychiatric emergency room while security guards and staffers do nothing about it.

She was left to die in a hospital emergency waiting room, one year ago Friday.

Shocking surveillance video showed the woman ignored for hours before she collapsed, and now CBS 2 HD has learned several hospital employees could face charges in a cover-up.

Friday night's vigil came on the one-year anniversary of Esmin Green's death-by-neglect at the old psychiatric emergency room at Kings County Hospital.

It also came on the very day New York City's Department of Investigation issued it's report clearing the way for criminal charges in the case.

The city's own investigators said there was a cover-up to obscure the horrendous facts surrounding the 49-year-old woman's death -- a chilling sequence caught by the ER's security camera.

The patient was left alone for 24 hours and finally on the floor already dead or dying as various hospital workers went about their business -- as if their business wasn't health care.

Mental health advocates regard Green's death as symbolic of a larger problem.

"It is not unusual at all. It's something that could've happened to any of us," psychiatric survivor Sarah Berman said.

The DOI found Green never received a physical examination, that her neglect was not result of overcrowding or overwork and that important records were falsified.

The city has already paid $2 million to Green's family, but their attorney said criminal charges are now in order.

"The report indicated clearly that the problem at this hospital was systemic, which means it affected more than just Esmin Green. It affected all the patients and it is, I believe that is, systemic throughout this country and has to be addressed," Sanford Rubenstein said.

It's a matter, many say, of basic human respect.

"If a person has a psychiatric label they don't have credibility and they complain, well they're just mentally ill," mental health advocate Sheila Hill said.

The Brooklyn district attorney has the report and the names of a nursing supervisor, nurses aide and four doctors implicated in the alleged cover-up.

The victim's daughter, reached in Jamaica Friday, said she hopes criminal charges will be filed soon.