The family of a man who died after he jumped out of a window at Lancaster General Hospital is suing the hospital and two doctors who cared for him.
Filippo Raia, 70, of Mount Joy, died last summer after he threw himself through a closed, eighth-story window at the Duke Street hospital, where he had been hospitalized for mental health problems.
During his hospitalization, Raia was agitated and paranoid, and had threatened to jump out of the window five days before he did, according to nursing notes cited in the lawsuit.
"Throughout the stay, he was clearly demonstrating that he was not able to keep himself or others safe because of his mental status," said Andrew Youman, an attorney with Kline & Specter, the Philadelphia law firm handling the suit.
"The proper steps to safeguard him on the unit he was on were not taken," Youman said.
A spokesman for Lancaster General Health declined to comment on the suit. Lancaster General Health owns the hospital and employs the two psychiatrists named in the suit, Dr. Kathleen Dougherty and Dr. Leo Dorozynski, members of practices also named in the suit.
Raia's estate, as administered by his son, Filippo Raia II of East Petersburg, filed the suit. The younger Raia declined to comment, referring all questions to his attorney.
The elder Raia was admitted to the hospital last July for an "altered mental status," according to the lawsuit.
A native of Italy, Raia was a retired shipyard worker, husband and father of three grown sons, according to newspaper records. He had a history of seizures and anxiety, according to the lawsuit, and was confused and agitated at the time of his admission.
Two days after he was admitted to the hospital, Raia threatened to leave the hospital and jump out a window, according to nursing notes cited in the lawsuit.
Nurses caring for him also noted he was suffering from hallucinations and paranoia, believing the hospital staff was trying to kill him.
At one point, Raia ran out of his hospital room. Security guards had to be summoned, and helped to calm him and escort him back into his room, the nursing notes said.
Doctors gave him medication to calm his agitation throughout his weeklong hospitalization.
Dougherty noted in her assessment several days before his death that though Raia was "somewhat anxious," his thought processes appeared to be "logical" and he stated he was not having hallucinations at the time she saw him. His judgment and insight were impaired, she said.
A nurse that same day described Raia as agitated and uncooperative.
Two days before his death, Dorozynski noted Raia was "calm, pleasant but confused."
Two hours later, a nurse noted Raia was "very confused/agitated/psychotic today. (Patient) seems much better when medicated but becomes easily agitated and frequently asks for his wife."
Three days before his death, Raia's medical doctor signed an order reading "transfer to psych unit if OK [with] psychiatry (?transfer service?)."
But Dougherty wrote in a progress note three hours later, "At this time do not see indication for psychiatric admission; increase in delirium is typical in evening."
Raia, the psychiatrist believed, did not appear to have psychosis but likely had an underlying dementia. She recommended neuropsychological testing as soon as possible.
Raia remained on a general medical/surgical unit at LGH, housed in the same area as patients recovering from surgery or suffering from medical illnesses.
On Aug. 5, at 3:45 p.m., a nurse on the unit was notified that Raia was downstairs in the hospital's emergency department. A staff person went down to escort him back to his room.
Youman said police officers found Raia outside the hospital on Duke Street, according to a police report.
Thirty minutes later, after Raia had returned to his room, the nurse was caring for a patient in an adjacent room when, she noted, "I heard a loud noise and a staff member shout 'Someone get help.' "
The nurse went into the hallway, where a patient care assistant was coming out of Raia's room.
"He said he was just going to end this now and he pushed me across the room and threw himself out of the window," the assistant said, according to the nurse's note.
Raia landed on a roof four floors below. He died a short time later.
Raia's injuries and death, the lawsuit alleges, were the result of "the negligence, carelessness, recklessness, and gross negligence of all named defendants."
In addition to LGH, Dougherty and Dorozynski, the suit is against Behavioral Health Specialists, Lancaster General Medical Group, Lancaster General Behavioral Health System, Lancaster General Health and Lancaster General Health Foundation.