Criminal Homicide?

By symtym | 9.16.06

Coroner says patient’s death is a homicide | Chicago Tribune | 9.15.06

The death of a Waukegan woman in July after she spent nearly two hours in an emergency room waiting area was ruled a homicide Thursday during a Lake County coroner’s inquest.

Though the immediate cause of Beatrice Vance’s death in the early-morning hours of July 29 was a heart attack, she also died “as a result of gross deviations from the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in this situation,” said Coroner Richard Keller, reading from the jury’s verdict.

…

Vance was seen by a triage nurse at 10:28 p.m.…she complained of nausea, shortness of breath and chest pain of a level she rated as a “10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest,”…

At 12:25 a.m., an emergency room nurse went to the waiting room and called for Beatrice Vance but got no response, Barrett said. She was leaning on her side on a waiting room seat, unconscious and without a pulse.

Doctors rushed her into the emergency room and administered CPR, Barrett said. About 12:55 a.m., doctors detected a weak pulse, but 10 minutes later it stopped, and they restarted CPR.

Beatrice Vance was pronounced dead at 2 a.m. An autopsy showed she died of a heart attack caused by blockage of an artery in her heart.

This will be a big case. Similar to the State v Wolfgang Schug, M.D.. Was this just plain negligence? Was the ER impacted?

It will be interesting to see if EMTALA is brought, because it appears she did not have an MSE and her EMC was recognized way too late

Criminal negligence is conduct which creates a serious risk of death or serious bodily injury, greater than ordinary negligence but not as high as wantonness. Courts have often characterized as criminal negligence the risks created by improper operation of motor vehicles or improper handling of firearms.

For an additional good discussion see this thread on EMED-L.

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Marjorie Peters 09/17/2006 03:07 AM 1 point
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I am asking about emtala law. Is there a problem with a woman whose water broke and not having labor pains and was seen in the office by her physician and was sent by private car to be admitted to the hospital. But the patient went to the wrong place--(er admittance) of the hospital with the same name who was down the street and so was informed of the right place and so she went without any complications. Is that a emtala violation?

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symtym 09/17/2006 05:09 AM 1 point
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If I'm following the facts, woman saw OB, and OB wanted to admit patient to facility A, but patient showed up at facility B by mistake -- can facility B give directions to facility A? Or do you mean patient was directed to OB through regular hospital admitting (registration) and showed up at ER registration? I think it depends on what the woman says in either case.

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Scott 10/25/2006 11:04 AM 1 point
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If the woman came to the ER registration and stated her water broke, and asked for assistance they must provide a medical screening and cannot send her down the street. If she wants to go they are required to offer her a medical screening and if she refuses document the event accordingly.

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