Med Mal News

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) has reached agreements with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Mental Hygiene Legal Services and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle complaints concerning deficiencies at Queens, NY's Kings County Hospital Center. Mishandling of several patients' cases prompted the call for the reforms outlined in the agreement, most notably the death of Esmin Green in 2008. Green waited for more than 24 hours, largely unattended, to be admitted to the hospital. Her obvious medical distress was ignored or overlooked by staff members, and she died of a blood clot on the waiting room floor. The terms of the agreements were memorialized in a settlement signed by Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York on Jan. 8. Judge Matsumoto will retain oversight authority in order to make sure that HHC complies with its pledges, which include, among others: 1) relieving overcrowding; 2) establishing a group to oversee reforms; 3) improving the triage system; and 4) discontinuing the practice of putting patients in isolation.