A UK grandmother reportedly died during a hospital stay that her family describes as “the most appalling, degrading and undignified” experience. Marianne Mortemore, 69, was admitted to the University Hospital of North Durham in early 2024 for an ongoing skin condition. Her family is now suing the hospital, alleging a series of critical errors led to her death.
The most tragic alleged error involved the administration of penicillin, a powerful antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. According to her daughter, Catherine, Marianne’s severe penicillin allergy was well-documented. “There were warnings everywhere — she had her own bracelet, the hospital gave her a wristband, it was on the board, in her medical notes,” Catherine said in a statement.
“They didn’t even apologise when they told us what had happened, they just said there had been a mistake.” Per People Magazine, the family claims the penicillin was actually intended for another patient. This medication caused Marianne to go into cardiac arrest, ultimately leading to her passing.
Allergies are already crazy enough without someone ignoring them
Penicillin allergy is a serious immune system reaction to the antibiotic. According to Mayo Clinic, some reactions are mild, like hives, a rash, or itching, but a severe reaction can escalate to anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening condition, and the symptoms can be terrifying.
They include a tightening of the airways and throat, making it incredibly difficult to breathe, along with nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, a weak and rapid pulse, and a dangerous drop in blood pressure. In the most severe cases, it can even cause seizures or loss of consciousness. Anaphylaxis needs immediate medical attention. Unfortunately, because of the range of symptoms, sometimes larger issues can be misdiagnosed as allergies.
What happened to Marianne wasn’t just a single mistake; her daughter Catherine described it as “a catalogue of errors.” The family alleges that upon her arrival at the hospital, Marianne was left on a bed without a pillow in the center of the ward for several days.
Another alarming incident occurred when the family reportedly asked a podiatrist to trim Marianne’s nails. During this process, they discovered a bandage that had been left on for days. This oversight allegedly led to the discovery that Marianne had developed critical limb ischemia. It is a condition where plaque buildup severely blocks blood flow to the leg, requiring immediate treatment to prevent severe complications, including amputation or even death.
The family also recounted deeply distressing moments during her stay. Marianne’s son, David, shared a particularly painful memory. “I can still hear her screams when they were trying to insert the catheter, that will stay with me forever — only for one of the nurses to come out from behind the curtain and start high-fiving her mate,” he said in a statement. “Is that the way they would want their own mam to be treated?”
The Trust, which oversees the University Hospital of North Durham, has since issued a statement acknowledging the distress caused. “We recognise this will have caused unimaginable distress to Marianne and to yourselves. For this, we are so incredibly sorry.”
David and Catherine hope that by sharing their mother’s story, they can prevent similar tragedies. “We have lost our mother and our children have lost their grandmother due to incompetence and poor care and we hope that we can stop something like this from happening to another family in the future.”
They emphasized that “Our mother had every aspect covered to stop her being given penicillin, but it still wasn’t enough.” Their goal is to work with their legal team to ensure this message is heard loud and clear. “These are the basics — it can’t happen again,” they stated. That being said, even when the hospital is careful, sometimes strange errors can happen, like an incorrect death pronouncement.
Published: Apr 12, 2026 01:00 pm