ER Death Ruled Homicide in Heart Attack Victim

Beth Janicek

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A heart attack victim spent nearly two hours in a hospital waiting room and died. A coroner's jury has declared the death a homicide and her death was, "a result of gross deviations from the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in this situation."

Beatrice Vance, 49, waited almost two hours for a doctor to see her after complaining of classic heart attack symptoms. She was seen by a triage nurse 15 minutes after she arrived and the nurse classified her condition as "semi-emergent". Her daughter asked nurses twice when her mother would be seen by a doctor. When she was finally called, a nurse found her unconscious in a waiting room chair with no pulse. She was pronounced dead shortly after. It was not clear if the ruling would lead to criminal charges.