Medical Staff Neglect Patient Due to Smartphone Use... British Woman Dies from 'Excessive Water Intake'

40s British Woman with 'Siminseong Daeumjeung' Syndrome
Excessive Water Intake While Medical Staff Using Smartphone
Body Fluid Overload, Low Sodium Levels Lead to Death

It was revealed late that a patient with 'psychogenic polydipsia' at a hospital in the UK died after excessively consuming water while being neglected by medical staff. Psychogenic polydipsia is a type of mental disorder characterized by the excessive intake of water due to psychological factors.

According to the BBC and others, such an incident occurred on May 7, 2021, at a psychiatric hospital in the Sutton in Ashfield area of Nottinghamshire, UK. The hospital is operated by the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

Reports state that 45-year-old woman Michelle Whitehead was admitted to the hospital in 2018 due to acute neurasthenia. She was admitted again to the same hospital on May 3, 2021, for neurasthenia. Notably, on the afternoon of May 5, just two days after her admission, she exhibited symptoms of excessive water drinking.

Michelle suffered from psychogenic polydipsia, but the medical staff failed to diagnose her condition at the time. Despite it being a disease that often occurs in chronic mental illness patients, they did not recognize it.

Michelle Whitehead. [Image source=BBC]

While hospital staff were occupied with other tasks such as using smartphones, Michelle was left unattended and continued to drink water. Before her death, she was administered a sedative, leading the medical staff to believe she had fallen asleep; however, Michelle had actually lost consciousness and fallen into a coma. It took the medical staff four hours to notice that Michelle's breathing was abnormal.

Emergency responders were dispatched to transfer her, but it took about 10 minutes to enter the ward, causing further delay. Michelle was transferred to a nearby general hospital, but due to excessive water in her body, her sodium levels dropped sharply, and she ultimately died on May 7.

Her husband, Michael Whitehead, said, "If the medical staff had taken action earlier, Michelle could have been transferred to the intensive care unit and saved." He added, "By the time the medical staff realized something was wrong with Michelle's condition, it was already too late." He remembered Michelle as "a warm and caring person."