Deficiencies found in Dallas' Parkland emergency department

A month after a man waited 19 hours for treatment and then died in Dallas-based Parkland Memorial Hospital's emergency department, The Joint Commission showed up there for an unannounced spot-check. Though Parkland officials refuse to discuss that visit, the accreditation group has released a list of 11 standards that it says the hospital failed to meet. One area that was found deficient—"patients have the right to pain management"—suggests that Parkland was not adequately addressing patient discomfort inside the emergency department. The group also found that the hospital was not adequately defining the timeframe for conducting initial patient assessments.