MARTIN LUTHER KING JR./DREW MEDICAL CENTER: L.A. County To Investigate Wrongful Death Settlement Delay
Under a mandate from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the county's chief administrative officer and the county counsel will launch an investigation into "why the county has delayed payment of a wrongful death settlement to the family of a man who died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in 1995." The Los Angeles Times reports that the move is a reaction to yesterday's Times article that reported that the family of Charles Hamilton had not received final approval for its $625,000 settlement. Mr. Hamilton died in 1995 after having a "high-risk catheter" inserted into his chest by an inexperienced and unsupervised intern. Before the family could receive the payment, the settlement required the hospital to implement a "corrective action plan" to prevent a similar situation from ocurring. The action plan, however, "was not drafted and sent to the Department of Health Services for its verification and review, as the county supervisors require, until a few months ago, when health officials found that the settlement was being held up" (6/24). Click here to read California Healtline coverage of the Los Angeles Times story that first reported the settlement delay. Or click here to read coverage of a Los Angeles Times editorial on this issue.
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