Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
When is emergent care no longer emergent: emergency room waits in the U.S.
The publicity surrounding a Texas man's death in a hospital waiting room--after 19 hours--has died down, but the underlying problem has not gone away. Be careful where you need emergency help, and for goodness sake, don't get ill or injured in an inner city. On May 13, the LA Times reported that the ER at County-USC Medical Center had repudiated suggestions of a 35 hour wait in its ER: the average wait is "only" 9 hours, depending on your condition. The article also noted that many of the 300 hundred patients crowded into two rooms were forced to stand because of inadequate seating. Heaven forbid that our health system be accused of denying or delaying care. Those poor Canadian and European nations that have to wait for needed care should be so lucky as we are.