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Sitting in the hospital emergency room for nearly 24 hours may be what caused a woman’s death, a report from the Medical Examiner suggests.
Esmin Green, 49, had been involuntarily committed to Brooklyn's Kings County Hospital on June 18tth, suffering from “agitation and psychosis.” She waited in the crowded psychiatric emergency room until the next morning, where she collapsed in her chair and slid to the floor, convulsing. An hour later, she was dead.
On Friday, the Medical Examiner’s office concluded that the cause of Green’s death had been pulmonary thromboemboli. This condition, primarily caused by sitting for long periods of time, causes blood clots to form in the person’s legs. These clots then travel to the lungs, killing the patient.
That Green was killed by this condition is significant, says Sanford Rubenstein, the Green family’s attorney.
As reported by the Associated Press, Rubenstein said that:
The length of time that she spent in the emergency room…very well may have contributed to her death…Physical inactivity was obviously a significant contributing factor.
The Medical Examiner’s findings are likely to spark a new round of controversy for the Brooklyn, New York Hospital.
For the past few weeks, Kings County Hospital has been under attack for not only letting a physically healthy woman (she had not been admitted for a physical problem) die in their emergency room, but for ignoring her as she writhed on the floor for about 30 minutes. Then, after she stopped moving, another 30 minutes passed before a nurse walked over to her, nudged her with her foot, and determined that she was dead.
Security cameras recorded the entire scene and the existence of this video is making it difficult for the hospital to justify its actions…or rather, its inactions.
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Waiting for 24 hours??? That's torturous and I hope there is some legal action levied against the hospital. I've heard of long wait times but a full day's worth is inhumane.
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If this is the case I'm thinking of, there is further insult to be had. A video from the night this poor woman died show no less than three employees (2 security guards) completely ignoring her condition as she was writhing on the floor. As a note, the waiting room was not crowded when she finally died.
cnn.com video
ps. Great coverage Christine :) -
Thank you, Sykos, This IS the same case, and the way that she was ignored (especially by the security guards and at least one doctor) is truly horrid...there is just no excuse for this behavior.
Also, thank you for the link to the video. I had posted this story, but was in the process of searching for a way to pull the video over to DJ.
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@ Christine Mattice
Thank you, Sykos, This IS the same case, and the way that she was ignored (especially by the security guards and at least one doctor) is truly horrid...there is just no excuse for this behavior.
Also, thank you for the link to the video. I had posted this story, but was in the process of searching for a way to pull the video over to DJ.
You're welcome Christine :) You should be able to copy the link I included and embed it by editing the original content – via the embed video box at the bottom. -
Welcome to DJ.It's already reported in DJ. You can find the video also in the article. -
Did you know that staff made false notes of her activity, "sleeping, went to the bathroom, etc." when she was in fact on the floor dying?
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One of the nurses was seen kicking the body to see whether she was alive instead of taking the pulse, it was just heartbreaking to treat her like an animal.
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I certainly hope that the hospital staff will be investigated and heads will roll. This is definitely a lawsuit in the making.
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Yes, it sure is a lawsuit in the making. Also, a doctor has been fired (the one seen on tape as approaching her, but walking away) and several others have been suspending pending investigation, the last time I checked. I watched the video again last night, and was sickened all over again.
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@ Christine Mattice
Yes, it sure is a lawsuit in the making. Also, a doctor has been fired (the one seen on tape as approaching her, but walking away) and several others have been suspending pending investigation, the last time I checked. I watched the video again last night, and was sickened all over again.
I know, I watched the video when it was first reported. I couldn't believe that the other people sitting there didn't offer to help the woman. -
I know, I watched the video when it was first reported. I couldn't believe that the other people sitting there didn't offer to help the woman.
It's one thing if they, perhaps, somehow, did not notice her fall to the floor. Maybe, too, they might have thought she just preferred to wait on the floor...but you KNOW she must have been making noises as she lay dying!!!
Yet another example of the depersonalization of big city living.
I'm a small town girl myself. -
omg that's awful!!! I recently went to an urgent care center for severe chest pains. I couldn't hardly breathe. The urgent care center couldn't figure out what was wrong with me so they transported me by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Well, I sat in the "emergency" room for nearly 6 hours before I finally was taken to a room and another hour til I was seen by a doctor. I actually tried to go home about 4 hours into the whole ordeal because my back was throbbing from sitting for so long (and the urgent care had given me a shot of benadryl, so I was exhausted). They wouldn't let me leave because my blood work from the urgent care center suggested that I might have a possible blood clot in my lung. They told me the doctor would be right out to see me. Another 2 hours later, they wheeled me back to a room in the back, did some kind of CT or MRI scan and then laid me in the room for another hour before a doctor FINALLY came in and told me I was fine and had probably just choked on something.
I didn't choke on anything.
The part that infuriated me even more than the incredibly long wait was that they had me listed as having a cough. Nothing about my chest pains. That probably contributed to why they let me sit for so long in pain.
I also got sick for a whole week from all the infected people coughing in the waiting room for those 6 hours.
The healthcare system is rediculous.
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Julybug said a doctor FINALLY came in and told me I was fine and had probably just choked on something.
I didn't choke on anything.
LOL! I couldn't stop laughing. The implications are terrible, but it's so outrageous it's laughable. Something so obvious as choking, but you need a doctor to tell you it happened, or that it did not happen . . .
I wouldn't be surprised if the "cough" they created was to cover themselves, just like the "notes" on the woman in the case under discussion. If you keel over when the complaint was a cough, who can blame them for not seeing you in a timely manner.
If you're not rich, you ought to be scared. -
Once in the States I had food poisoning. They were moving very slowly and I swear I did not do this on purpose but at the registration desk I hurled on the worker. I was in a room before you can say Jimmy Crack Corn.
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@ KJ (momentsintime)
Once in the States I had food poisoning. They were moving very slowly and I swear I did not do this on purpose but at the registration desk I hurled on the worker. I was in a room before you can say Jimmy Crack Corn.
LMAO!!!!! Add a Comment
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Woman Dies From Sitting too Long in Hospital Emergency Room
