Posted on 03/07/2005 8:46:37 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge Monday tentatively dismissed parts of a discrimination lawsuit brought by a group of doctors and residents who accused the county of trying to dismantle a troubled inner-city hospital.
The nonprofit group Friends of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center Inc. doesn't have legal standing for several of its claims, because it wasn't directly harmed by the county's decision to close the hospital's trauma unit, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper tentatively ruled.
The judge, however, said she was inclined keep some portions of the lawsuit, including accusations that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allegedly violated open meetings law by deciding to shutter the trauma unit before publicly approving the move last November.
A final ruling was expected in a few days.
A defense attorney praised the preliminary ruling.
"We are obviously happy," said Alisa Morgenthaler Lever, a lawyer representing the county. "It seems to eliminate the case as it pertains to the closure of the trauma center."
The organization's lawyer said he hopes to preserve several of the lawsuit's claims by showing direct harm. He claimed the group had evidence that trauma patients died in the time it took to reroute them to other hospitals.
"At the end of the day, the good news is we're still alive. We're going ahead with our case," said attorney David Martin.
The lawsuit, filed last October, asked the court to permanently bar the closure of the trauma center, prevent further King/Drew hospital cuts and sought the restoration of any services already eliminated. The group consists of patients, physicians and community residents.
US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ..
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=District+Judge+Florence-Marie+Cooper+&csz=&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t-174&cop=mss&tab=&toggle=1
Clinton appointee ,, 1999
also the same Judge who tossed the case against Katrina Leung, a Chinese-American spy.
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