Hospital pays out $4.2M to settle lawsuit involving ‘violent and uncontrollable’ patient
University of Iowa Health Care has agreed to pay nearly $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the severe injury of a “violent and uncontrollable" patient with a history of bipolar disorder and schizophrenic episodes, according to the lawsuit and a response from the state attorney general’s office.
The patient, Conrad Columbo, was brought into the emergency department by his mother—who is also his legal guardian—complaining of several days of no sleep and admitting to not taking his prescribed medication, due to what he said was a stint in jail. According to court documents, the 38-year-old became violent and injured multiple clinicians as they attempted to restrain him in a hallway, just under two hours after he was given Adderall and Lamotrigine as a psychiatric treatment.
During the struggle, Columbo was allegedly injected with sedatives to calm his outbursts. At the time, he was allegedly experiencing hallucinations. He reacted by shadow boxing and screaming threats at staff.
He remained in the hallway due to a lack of empty psychiatric beds at the facility, the lawsuit revealed.
While the patient was sedated, staff noticed that Columbo—laying on his stomach—began to turn blue and show signs of respiratory distress. The lawsuit alleges that no members of the clinical team thought to turn him over to monitor his vitals prior to this point.
According to the legal complaint, it took eight minutes for doctors and nurses to revive him. Columbo had allegedly been given three different doses of sedatives back-to-back—too much for him to handle, causing his heart to effectively stop.
As a result of the incident, he suffered permanent brain damage. Several members of the staff were also injured during the scuffle, University of Iowa Health Care added in its response to the legal complaint. However, there was no mention of any severe injuries.
Columbo’s mother went on to file a lawsuit in April 2024, roughly two years after her son was admitted to the emergency room. She alleged the hospital was negligent in administering its cocktail of drugs and was ultimately responsible for the near-fatal outcome.
No admission of guilt
Despite agreeing to pay out $4.16 million to end the legal proceedings, the health system does not admit to any wrongdoing. At the recommendation of the Iowa attorney general’s office, the state appeal board approved the settlement on Tuesday, which will keep the case from going to trial.
HealthExec reached out to University of Iowa Health Care for comment.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.