A recently filed Delaware lawsuit alleges that MeadowWood Behavioral Health Hospital (“MeadowWood”), a facility in New Castle County, Delaware that provides detoxification services to patients, was negligent in treating 33-year-old David H. Tymitz in 2023, five days after he had been admitted for treatment of his addiction to alcohol and benzodiazepines. Tymitz died at MeadowWood with methadone and another synthetic opioid in his blood.
Patients who are admitted to MeadowWood for addiction detoxification typically are admitted for up to one week before being transferred to another facility for longer-term inpatient care.
Tymitz had been treated at MeadowWood several times in the past before he was admitted for drug treatment on July 17, 2023. At the time of his initial evaluation, he was found to be suffering withdrawal symptoms that resulted in Tymitz being placed on a Valium detox protocol for alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms that did not include synthetic opioids. A drug test performed the next day was positive for benzodiazepines but was negative for opioids and other drugs.
Following protocol, Tymitz was monitored while he was taking prescribed medications at MeadowWood. He was evaluated for suicide risk and determined to be at low risk, therefore requiring staff to visually check on him every fifteen minutes.
During the afternoon the day before his death, Tymitz slept through a group therapy session and was observed hours later smoking in an outside courtyard. He was noted to be calm and “sitting/lying” in his room that evening and into the night. Shortly after 1:30 a.m., MeadowWood staff contacted the Delaware State Police to report that Tymitz was found dead in his room.
An autopsy found methadone, buprenorphine, and benzodiazepines in Tymitz’s blood. Nonetheless, the cause of death was stated as “adverse effects of methadone intoxication.” It is unclear whether Tymitz was prescribed opioids by staff while he was a patient at MeadowWood or if he obtained them on his own.
The Delaware medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that MeadowWood breached the applicable standards of care and was “medically negligent, reckless, and/or acted with willful and wanton conduct.” A spokesperson for MeadowWood stated: “Our deepest sympathies go out to David Tymitz’s family. MeadowWood Behavioral Hospital places the care, well-being, and privacy of our patients as our highest priorities. As such, we cannot comment further.”
MeadowWood’s Tennessee-based parent company is Acadia Healthcare, which a New York Times investigation reportedly concluded in mid-2024 “lured patients” into its psychiatric facilities “and held them against their will.”
Acadia owns three outpatient addiction treatment facilities in Delaware, and many more throughout United States, with revenues last year in excess of $3 billion.
If you or a loved one were harmed as a result of bad or negligent mental health care in Delaware or in another U.S. state, you should find a Delaware medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your U.S. state, who may investigate your negligent mental health care claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a mental health malpractice case, if appropriate.
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