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Updated 06/19/2009 11:07 PM

Hospital May Have Falsified Records Of Allegedly Neglected Patient

By: NY1 News

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Investigators said Friday that staffers at Kings County Hospital falsified records and lied to authorities in an attempt to cover up the neglect of a patient who died in the waiting room.

The Department of Investigation released a report exactly one year after 49-year-old Esmin Green was allegedly ignored by employees at the hospital's psychiatric emergency room for 24 hours.

Investigators said she collapsed from a blood clot, then laid on the floor for an hour before a nurse checked her pulse and found she was dead.

Six hospital employees lost their jobs because of the incident, but the DOI probe raises the possibility that some could also face criminal charges.

The report cites factual inconsistencies in medical records kept by several doctors and nurses at the hospital, saying they had checked up regularly on the patient. Such claims were contradicted by security footage.

"The hospital and its officials were extremely disturbed by what happened and have done a complete overhaul of procedures," said Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

The city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Green's family for $2 million.

But in the wake of the report, Green's daughter is calling for authorities to criminally prosecute those involved.

"Whoever committed a criminal act with regard to the death of their mother, or attempted to cover up her death should be sent to jail," said Green family attorney Sanford Rubenstein.

At a rally and vigil held outside the hospital on Friday, advocates said they want significant changes and called for an overhaul of the psychiatric system.

"This happens everyday all over the place, it is beyond Kings County," said Lauren Tenney of We The People. "This is an international problem that we are dealing with."

In a statement, the city Health and Hospitals Corporation said, "After a year of hard work, the psychiatric patient experience at Kings County is radically improved and we continue to work to make it a model program grounded in compassion, rehabilitation and recovery-centered care."

A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney's office said the report's findings are being reviewed.