New York ER doctor, 48, kills herself after telling family about trauma of watching people die from coronavirus
The medical director of the emergency department at a New York hospital took her own life over on Sunday, April 26 after recounting to her loved ones the horrific scenes she had witnessed at the medical facility, including an increasing number of patients dying in front of her eyes before they could even be removed from ambulances.
The deceased was identified as Dr Lorna M Breen, 48, the ER medical director at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, who died in Charlottesville, Virginia, New York Times reported.
While treating patients infected with coronavirus, Breen had contracted the virus herself. After a week-and-a-half of rest, she had returned to work at Allen but the hospital sent her home. Following the recuperation instructions of her father, Dr Philip C Breen, she re-located to Charlottesville.
Officers from the Charlottesville Police Department responded to reports on Sunday that Breen had attempted to commit suicide. "The victim was taken to UVA Hospital for treatment, but later succumbed to self-inflicted injuries," department spokesperson Tyler Hawn told the New York Times.
After his daughter's death, Dr Philip told the outlet that Lorna had no history of mental illness but he had noticed that she sounded detached and withdrawn while talking to her in the days leading to her death and suspected that something was bothering her.
"She tried to do her job, and it killed her," he said. "She was truly in the trenches of the front line. Make sure she’s praised as a hero, because she was. She’s a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died."
Dr Angela Mills, the head of emergency medical services for several NewYork-Presbyterian campuses, including Allen, informed the medical staff of Lorna's death via an email.
"A death presents us with many questions that we may not be able to answer," a segment of the email read, although it did not mention any reference to the deceased's death.
Emergency medicine physician, Dr Dara Kass, who worked with Lorna at the facility, said that the latter was the kind of doctor who always made time for her colleagues and those working under her. Even when Lorna was at home getting the rest that she needed to get well from the virus, she would be in contact with her staff at Allen, asking them how they were doing and if they could get the medical equipment they needed.
"She was always the physician who was looking out for other people’s health and well-being," Kass said.
NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital has a 200-bed capacity and has housed as many 170 COVID-19 patients at times. It has been overwhelmed in recent weeks, barely managing to cope with the growing list of the sick after the outbreak started in the United States.
The hospital has not made any official statements regarding Lorna's death yet.
At the time of writing this article, there were 988,469 confirmed coronavirus cases and 56,253 deaths in the US, with New York registering 17,515 casualties, as per the John Hopkins tracker.