Untreated Patient Dies Outside Hospital Emergency Room

As first reported in the Los Angeles Times on October 31, 2007, 33-year-old Christopher Jones, died outside the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center last week after waiting for 3 hours for treatment for chest pains.  According to reports, Jones arrived with complaints of ongoing chest pains but was told to sit in the waiting room until it was his turn.  Despite his ongoing symptoms, the hospital's health care providers failed to perform a simple test to determine whether his heart was functioning properly, a standard practice for a patient complaining of such pain.  After waiting for more than 3 hours, Jones got up, walked outside and collapsed on the pavement, dying within minutes.  As reported in the LA Times, medical records show the Olive View triage nurse never wrote down basic details about Jones' complaints, including the location of his chest pain or how bad it was. Those symptoms are key to determining how the hospital should respond.   While Jones had his pulse, blood pressure and blood sugar levels tested, the  medical records do not show he was given an electrocardiogram, a test used to diagnose heart attacks.  The American College of Cardiology strongly advises hospitals to conduct an EKG within 10 minutes of a patient's arrival at an emergency department if he or she complains of chest pain or has other symptoms associated with a heart attack.

If you or a loved one believe you have been the victim of similar hospital negligence, contact the attorneys at Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White at 410-385-2225.