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Family of deceased King-Harbor patient sues for $45M

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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital
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The family of a woman who died on the waiting room floor of now-defunct Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital is suing the county that operated the facility for $45 million. Family members of 43-year-old Edith Isabel Rodriguez, who died there in May of a perforated bowel, are claiming negligence, medical malpractice and wrongful death. In its initial filings, the family says it's suing for $1 million for each of the 45 minutes Ms. Rodriguez went untreated prior to her death. Since Rodriguez's death the hospital, which was operated by Los Angeles County, has scaled down into an urgent care center. It closed earlier this year after failing an inspection by CMS.

To learn more about the case:
- read this Los Angeles Times item

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Comments

I haven't heard nearly enough about this case since it broke last year. I am still wondering what happened to the callous 911 dispatcher who told one caller that the woman, who lay dying on the hospital floor, was "not an emergency" and refused to call another ambulance to take her somewhere she could get medical attention.
Inescuasble is the only term that comes to mind for he behavior of the hospital staff and tehe 911 dispatchers and I wonder, why were the dispatchers not arrested and jailed, along with the hospital staff?
In my home state of Pennsylvania, criminal charges would quickly follow. Not suspensions or reprimands -- charges, trial, conviction and prison time!
I hope the Rodriguez family gets the $45 million, plus some.

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