$3M Settlement Reached With Family of Patient Found Dead in Stairwell

The family of a patient who went missing for two weeks only to be found dead in a hospital stairwell will receive a $3 million settlement from the city of San Francisco and the University of California.

The city of San Francisco and the University of California have tentatively agreed to pay $3 million to the family of a patient who was found dead in a stairwell at San Francisco General Hospital.

Lynne Spaulding, 57, was admitted to the hospital with a bladder infection in 2013 but went missing from her room two days later. It wasn’t until two weeks later that her body was found in a hospital stairwell, CBS reports.

Spaulding died of dehydration and liver failure related to alcoholism. Her death sparked multiple investigations of the communication failures between hospital and sheriff’s deputies who conducted the search for Spaulding.

Photo ThinkStock

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