WORLD BRIEFING / JAPAN
A Japanese bicyclist who suffered head and back injuries when he collided with a motorcycle waited in an ambulance as paramedics phoned 14 hospitals, all of which refused to treat him, officials said.
He died 90 minutes later of shock from loss of blood at a facility that finally agreed to take him. Mitsuhisa Ikemoto, a fire department official, said the hospitals cited a lack of equipment and staff in refusing to admit the 69-year-old victim.
The Jan. 20 incident in the southwestern city of Itami was the latest in a string of cases in which patients were denied treatment at understaffed and overcrowded hospitals.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
