Elizabeth H. Shin (September 26, 1980 – April 14, 2000) was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student who died from burns inflicted by a fire in her dormitory room. Her death led to a lawsuit against MIT and controversy as to whether MIT paid adequate attention to its students' mental and emotional health, and whether its suicide rate was abnormally high. Although her death was first thought to be a suicide, both MIT and her parents stipulated that it may have been an accident in the subsequent amicable settlement between MIT and the Shin family.
Background
Shin was born on September 26, 1980. She was the eldest daughter to Korean parents Kisuk (née Pak) and Cho Hyun Shin, and was raised in Livingston, New Jersey. She was the salutatorian of her graduating class at West Orange High School. Shin began attending MIT as a biology major in September 1998 and resided at the on-campus Random Hall dormitory. provoking controversy as to whether MIT's suicide rate was abnormally high.
Shin had regularly used the services of MIT's Counseling and Support Services (CSS) since March 1999, after breaking up with a boyfriend. CSS later said that Shin admitted to habitual cutting since high school and noted that her symptoms were consistent with "passive suicidal ideation". On March 29, 2000, a new psychiatrist diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder and major depressive disorder; Shin would enter another "severe" depressive episode the next day, for which the psychiatrist increased her Celexa prescription. Shin asked to be excused for an exam on April 3 and on the evening of April 8, a student reported MIT police after Shin had talked about killing herself with a knife, though she was returned to her dorm within the hour as staff found that Shin was "not acutely suicidal". Sixty-five percent of her body was covered in third-degree burns, and she died four days later.
Lawsuit
On January 28, 2002, Shin's family filed a $27.65 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the school and several administrators and employees. They accused the school of "breaching its 'promise' to provide an appropriate medical diagnosis and treatment of Shin, as well as reasonable security, emergency services, and level of care". The Shins' lawyer David Deluca commented that the counts against MIT might have been limited by the "immunity that the institution enjoys" as an educational institution.
MIT continued to deny wrongdoing.
On April 3, 2006, MIT announced that the lawsuit had been settled for an undisclosed amount. The Shins released a statement, saying, "We appreciate MIT's willingness to spare our family the ordeal of a trial and have come to understand that our daughter's death was likely a tragic accident. This agreement will allow us to move forward in the healing process."
The Shins' lawyer stated that the results of a toxicology test indicated that Elizabeth had overdosed on a nonprescription medication before the fire that could have prevented her from responding appropriately to the blaze. This evidence may have played a part in the Shins' later admission that Elizabeth's death was an accident.
According to an unreferenced 2011 article in The Boston Globe, MIT's suicide rate was not higher than other colleges, refuting an earlier The Boston Globe article cited in The New York Times. unequal comparisons, the sparse nature of the event of suicide compared to other activities,