How Rich: NYC To Pay Funeral Expenses For Woman Left To Die

Well, isn't that rich of them. New York City will pay the funeral expenses for Esmin Green, the woman who died at Kings County Hospital on video showing hospital staff acting indifferent or ignoring the fact that she was lying on the floor.

Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the city would pick up the funeral expenses of the 49-year-old Brooklynite, who was left to die on the waiting-room floor of Kings County Hospital's psychiatric emergency room on June 19.

The mayor also said developer Forest City Ratner had agreed to pay to fly Green's relatives here from Jamaica and back, and to fly the body there.

Why is the developer Forest City Ratner involved? Why isn't the City picking up all these expenses? Considering that the City should expect to lose a multi million dollar lawsuit, I guess they found a way for them to avoid breaking the budget?

The real problem, however, is that Kings County Hospital is a budget buster. More lawsuits have been filed and the City has paid out more settlements on Kings County malpractice suits than any of its other hospitals. In fact, Kings County has been responsible for 1/3 of all malpractice suits against the 11 hospitals in the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation.

The hospital is facing another budget buster from a family who is suing on behalf of their son who died after being misdiagnosed and mistreated. They gave him allergy medication instead of providing treatment for MRSA.

Something needs to be done, and it's highly unfortunate that it took the death of this woman to do something about the dire situation at Kings County. There was criminal neglect, and while six people have already been fired, it is insufficient to change how the hospital operates. Criminal charges are being mulled, and I'd say that they're completely warranted.