Back in the United States, the treatment of psychiatric patients is coming under new scrutiny following the release of surveillance video showing a mentally ill woman dying in a psychiatric emergency room after being left unattended. The woman, Esmin Green, is shown toppling to her knees before collapsing on her face. A full hour passes before she is attended to by passing hospital employees and found to have died. Kings County Hospital officials have also been accused of altering Green’s medical records to downplay her death. Beth Haroules of the New York Civil Liberties Union criticized the hospital.

Beth Haroules: “We were absolutely appalled to receive medical documentation, kept in accordance with New York state law, that is completely contradicted by
video surveillance feeds.”