Syracuse Student Suing Hospital For Being Locked In Psych Ward For Six Days For A Cold

A young student from Syracuse University is suing the campus health center after she was admitted to — and forced to stay in — a psych ward for six full days, simply because she had a cold and was suffering from “flu-like symptoms.”

The sophomore, Kaitlin Taylor, told reporters that it all started when she went to the health center in September 2013, telling them she felt like she might have the flu.

At that point, for whatever reason, Taylor was told that there was no one on hand to write her a prescription, and she was then driven to nearby St. Joseph’s Hospital and dumped on the sidewalk in front of the emergency room.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Taylor then found herself sitting in ER feeling herself getting sicker and sicker.

“I was getting stressed by the circumstances and the surroundings. I thought I’d only be there for an hour or two,” she said.

As if Taylor’s day couldn’t get any worse, she was then taken for a 15-minute evaluation with a psychiatrist in a hospital office.

As Taylor spoke about the trials and tribulations facing her, the psychiatrist decided that she needed “involuntary treatment,” noting that the patient was suffering from “insomnia” and had “pressured speech, disorganized and declining grades.”

As far as the treatment she received was concerned, Taylor said, “They hadn’t done anything for me or my cold. They didn’t take my blood pressure or even my temperature.”

All Taylor really wanted was something for her cold and some rest, but her ordeal continued as she was told she had to stay in the hospital, with a nurse telling her, “[T]he more I cooperated the sooner they’d let me out, that I should take their pills and go along with whatever they told me to do.”

Unbelievably, the student was given the drug Risperdal,, which is potent and is used to treat schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, as well as Klonopin, a drug used to treat panic disorder.

“They made us line up in front of a window and they gave out the pills, just like in the movie ‘Cuckoo’s Nest,'” she said.

Eventually, she was able to contact her mother who came and took her home.