In 2008 49-year-old Esmin Green died an excruciating death on the floor of a waiting room at Kings County Hospital. The shocking story drew national attention thanks to a security video in which Green slumped and fell to the ground, was ignored by two guards and a doctor who walk by, and finally kicked by a nurse who checks on her (after she had already died from blood clots). In 2009 the city settled with Green's family for $2 million dollars and now, another two years later, hospital workers are being prosecuted for allegedly trying to cover up the death by falsifying records.
A nursing aide, 53-year-old Easton Royal, was arrested Tuesday and charged with reckless endangerment and falsifying business records. In 2008 she allegedly wrote in the observation sheet that the Jamaican immigrant Green was doing fine at 6 a.m., when in fact she was lying on the floor of the waiting room, dying. After her arraignment Royal was released without bail.
Besides Royal another nurse reportedly pleaded guilty last month to similar charges though her name was not released. According to a Daily News source, the two nurses are the only staff members from the incident facing charges.
