For background (and some interesting comments from interested parties) see How in the World does this happen? and More on the LA death:
Via the LATimes:
Untreated Olive View patient died of a heart attack
By Jack Leonard
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 28, 2007
An L.A. County coroner’s spokesman confirmed Tuesday that a 33-year-old man who collapsed and died last month after waiting more than three hours at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center to be treated for chest pains had had a heart attack.
The county-run hospital in Sylmar had failed to administer a simple test to check whether Christopher Jones was having a heart attack when he walked into the emergency room Oct. 28.Within days of Jones’ death, the county Department of Health Services announced that it was taking steps to fire the triage nurse responsible for evaluating Jones. State investigators are continuing to review the case to determine whether the hospital provided adequate treatment.
Craig Harvey, operations chief for the county coroner’s office, said Jones died from a blood clot and coronary heart disease. Pathologists also found that he had an enlarged heart.
There’s more, but it’s mostly a rehash of things already discussed (i.e., get an EKG machine and use it if your ED triages chest pain to the waiting room).
So, now we know. And it’s fully as bad as feared.



