Man (38) collapses and dies in hospital waiting room after asking to be admitted
Family questions why a patient with chest pain and blood pressure of 200 was returned to the waiting room before collapsing.
A 38-year-old entrepreneur from Palovec, Luka Palatinus, died after collapsing in the waiting room of the County Hospital in Čakovec following a visit to emergency services for severe chest pain.
Family members have publicly questioned the care he received and demanded answers about why he was returned to the waiting area despite severe symptoms and very high blood pressure.
According to his father, Stjepan, Luka went to the emergency department at about 23:00 because of unbearable chest pain and a blood pressure reading that reached 200. The father says this was the third time Luka had sought help for the same problem.
"He begged the staff to admit him," Stjepan said. He also recounted: "At the Emergency they allegedly told him: 'Here you are again?'. If I were a doctor and a young man came to me with chest pain and blood pressure 200, I would immediately take him for a detailed examination. While they waited, he asked his wife to bring him cold water. When she returned with the glass, Luka had already collapsed. And he begged them to admit him," Stjepan told the media.
Hospital timeline and tests
The County Hospital in Čakovec confirmed that the patient was registered at 22:34 and assigned a third triage category. Staff say blood tests and an ECG were performed and an initial therapy was given; the first results, reviewed around 23:45, were described as "normal." The hospital states that staff suggested repeating blood tests after one hour and Luka was sent back to the waiting room, where he collapsed at about 01:30.
Independent medical commentators warned that in patients with intense chest pain and extremely high blood pressure an acute myocardial infarction cannot be excluded on the basis of a single set of initial results. They stressed that such patients require continuous monitoring of vital signs because seconds can be decisive for survival.
The family has demanded a full explanation of the sequence of events and said they would seek further review of the hospital records and procedures. The case has sparked public debate in Croatia about emergency-room triage and monitoring of patients with cardiac symptoms.
Photo: press material from the event
