Death in Hawthorne and a System’s Failure

Thanks for the newsworthy “Year of Searching Ends in Grief” (Oct. 31) and photo spread emphasizing errors of judgment in the case of Armando Ramirez, whose gang- and drug-complicated life ended a year ago in the intensive care unit of a Hawthorne hospital and whose family members now, as they cope with the burden of skyrocketing hospital fees and child-rearing expenses, have to live with such rhetoric as “It’s the height of incompetence and neglect” from a hireling attorney whose apparent knack for turning an ironic phrase is not unappreciated by all of your readers.

Harry Terrill

Monrovia