MISDIAGNOSIS LEADS TO FINES FOLLOWING PLAYWRIGHT'S DEATH.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Two hospitals where ``Rent'' playwright Jonathan Larson Jonathan Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American Tony Award-winning composer and playwright who lived in New York City and authored musicals, including Rent and Tick, Tick... BOOM!. was treated before his death will be fined for misdiagnosing his severe chest pains, the state Health Department said Thursday. But the department concluded after a four-month investigation that given Larson's age and medical history, correctly diagnosing him ``would have been extremely difficult,'' said Health Commissioner Dr. Barbara DeBuono. Larson, 35, was found dead in his apartment Jan. 25 just as ``Rent,'' a 1990s version of ``La Boheme,'' was about to open off-Broadway. The hit show later moved to Broadway and won four Tony awards. Larson died of a dissecting aortic aneurysm dissecting aortic aneurysm Cardiovascular disease An aneurysm of the aorta in which there is an internal split in the wall of the aorta, caused by either ASHD or cystic medial hyperplasia. See Aneurysm, Aortic aneurysm. , a tear in the inner lining of the aorta, said Dr. Mark Henry, a department consultant. The condition is most common in men over 50 with a history of hypertension hypertension or high blood pressure, elevated blood pressure resulting from an increase in the amount of blood pumped by the heart or from increased resistance to the flow of blood through the small arterial blood vessels (arterioles). , which Larson did not have, Henry said. Cabrini Medical Center will be fined $10,000 and St. Vincent's Hospital Hospital:
Both hospitals have denied responsibility for Larson's death. One diagnosed him with food poisoning food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that , the other with a viral syndrome. They sent him home. The Health Department said Larson did not have the symptoms of either illness and should not have been released. ``We are less concerned that the difficult diagnosis was missed than that the symptom of chest pain wasn't aggressively pursued by a variety of professionals in both ERs,'' DeBuono said as she released the report. |
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