and Reuters is still just hanging there. I don't know what's wrong with their site, but I can rarely get it to load. I'd love to read the rest of the story.
Was the man really homeless? Had he come in by ambulance? Were there no family members listed? No address? Was he retarded, non verbal, unable to state his name and address? This whole thing is insane. They knew he couldn't walk. At least the vain driver could have gotten him into a shelter instead of just pushing him out of the back of her vehicle, splat into the street.
In any case, LA hospitals have gotten into trouble for patient dumping before now. I am astonished that the practice is still going on.
The lawsuit over this one is going to be a real beaut. If he'd been put into the street instead of onto a sidewalk, it was real endangerment of his life. He could end up being a very wealthy mentally ill paraplegic.
Here's a link to Yahoo for others who can't get Reuter's to load:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/us_nm/homeless_dumping_dcOn edit, part of the local story, " The complaint says that after Olvera was rushed to another hospital, staff immediately found medical problems that Hollywood Presbyterian overlooked.
"They rushed through the treatment for Mr. Olvera so quickly didn't diagnose or treat at all his existing urinary tract infection, for one," said Vera. "They didn't diagnose or treat his mental illness, even though he had been exhibiting signs."
The city attorney has filed a civil suit against the hospital. The district attorney is weighing criminal prosecution. Area hospitals at the time had agreed to protocols that halt patient dumping. Yet the practice persisted. "
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=5898698