Sunday, March 9, 2008

Expert William Logan M.D.

Here. The testimony in the appellate decision.

"Manke’s psychiatric expert witness, Dr. Logan, testified:

I believe if Dr. Fernandez had done an adequate assessment and follow-up assessment within the standard of care, that he would have recognized this [Crystal's potential for suicide] and would have; number one, recommended she not come to Children's Square; or number two, if they decided to take a risk of trying to treat somebody like this--and it would have been a risk given their staffing and orientation--that they make staff very much aware of her potential.

Dr. Logan also testified:

This is a girl that is pretty sick, and I think all this GAF score is really saying, that Dr. Fernandez recognized that, the real question is, given that he recognized this, did he really do enough to follow up and make sure that she got the treatment she needed to avoid going even lower and eventually killing herself, and my opinion is he did not.

(Emphasis added.)

We find Dr. Logan's testimony was sufficient to submit the issue of proximate cause to the jury. His testimony cites a causal relationship between Dr. Fernandez's breach of the applicable standard of care and Crystal’s death by suicide. Because the district court did not err in submitting this issue, we affirm its ruling denying Dr. Fernandez's motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict."




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