When a sixty-nine-year-old woman who was always active and aware suddenly showed signs of confusion and paranoia in March 2020, she was admitted to the Geriatric Psychiatric Unit of Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. Six days later, she died in the hospital.
The family’s wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that the nurses in the hospital’s geriatric psychiatric unit failed to follow physicians’ orders. The woman’s daughter stated, “She needed fluids. She needed sepsis antibiotic, and she needed potassium. She needed them quickly to help fight the sepsis infection, which is deadly, and she was never given a drop of the medication. There’s no records of why they didn’t do it. The nurses never did it. There’s nothing in her records of why it was never administered.”
The woman died from the delay in treating her perforated bowel that led to septic shock which ultimately caused her death. The family alleged that the woman should have been treated for the medical condition instead of being kept in the psych unit.
TriHealth, which operates Good Samaritan Hospital, said in a statement after the verdict: “We are deeply disappointed with the jury’s verdict in the case and will be considering all options, including appeal, going forward. Good Samaritan Hospital prides itself in the exceptional care that its nurses and physicians provide to its patients. And, sadly, we believe the jury’s verdict is not consistent with the high quality of care provided at Good Samaritan Hospital to the thousands of patients we care for.”
Delirium is an acute, temporary state of confusion caused by physical conditions that disrupt brain function, such as severe infections (UITs, pneumonia), metabolic imbalances, medication side effects, or organ failure. It often develops over hours or days, characterized by inattention, fluctuating awareness, hallucinations, and mood changes, particularly in hospitalized or older adults. Up to one-third of all patients staying in the hospital and 80% of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) experience delirium.
A person with delirium may experience changes in their awareness of where they are. They may seem “out of it,” lethargic or uninterested in their surroundings. They may be confused, anxious, or see or hear things that are not there. Thinking and remembering are impaired, and anxiety, euphoria or fear may occur. Delirium is linked to worse outcomes in older people in the hospital, and it is associated with a higher risk of declining health and death.
Johns Hopkins Medicine states that a person with delirium may experience symptoms that come and go over the course of the day, including:
- Mental confusion (especially new confusion that develops over hours or days)
- Difficulty in paying attention, listening or absorbing information
- Lack of interest in one’s surroundings, seeming “out of it”
- Difficulty thinking or remembering
- Drowsiness or lethargy
- Feeling disoriented as to time and place
- Sensitivity to light and sounds
- Distortions in sensory perception: seeing or hearing things differently
- Hallucinations: seeing or hearing things that are not there. The person may pick at or brush their hands over their bedclothes to remove dirt or insects that are not present.
- Delusions: fixed ideas not based in reality. For instance, people with delirium may fear that providers or family members are trying to harm them.
- Euphoria, anxiety or agitation
Symptoms are often more pronounced in the evening and at night.
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