Hospital Cleared of Malpractice After Discharged Patient Commits Suicide

1) Early discharge encouraged by involuntary commitment act.

2) Psychiatrist cannot held responsible for unpredictable patient behavior.

3) Patient had follow up care set up.

Hospital cleared in patient’s suicide

September 01, 2010, 01:43 AM By Michelle Durand Daily Journal Staff

San Mateo Medical Center is not responsible for a suicidal patient who killed herself after being discharged before the end of a 72-hour psychiatric hold, according to a state appellate court who upheld a previous ruling that the treating psychiatrist believed she no longer required care. The decision filed Aug. 30 holds that Dr. Mina Bak not only discharged Katherine Farley early because of her belief the woman would not harm herself but provided her referrals to other agencies for follow-up help. Farley was brought to the hospital at approximately 7:15 p.m. June 23, 2006 in an intoxicated state and voicing suicidal thoughts, according to court records. The emergency room doctor admitted her to the psychiatric ward where her medical history, including past suicide attempts, depression and alcohol abuse, were assessed. The following morning, she told Bak she was still depressed but denied any specific suicidal plan and said she would never harm herself because she was “too chicken” and had a young son. Bak discharged Farley at 2:40 p.m. June 24 and, at approximately 6 p.m. June 26, she committed suicide. The following August, Farley’s husband, Dave Monroe, and their son sued for medical malpractice, arguing the hospital staff failed to note the “seriousness of her condition and the danger she posed to herself,” did not give necessary care while she was still experiencing a psychiatric emergency and released her too early without instructions for treatment. The suit also alleged Farley was released early because of her inability to pay for medical services and economic status. In August 2008, the trial court agreed with the hospital that it was immune from liability.

Why Do Drug Compaaies and Researchers Neglect Suicide?

They are afraid of litigation. The lawsuit the lawyer claims is to prevent suicide in others prevents any advances in the prevention of suicide. Thank the lawyer for lack of progress in suicide prevention. Any jury awarding any verdict in a suicide claim must also be held responsible for this stagnation.

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Health

The Forgotten Patients

Robert Langreth and Rebecca Ruiz, 08.26.10, 11:20 AM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated September 13, 2010

The mental health industry ignores the 35,000 people a year who commit suicide. A few researchers are trying to change that.

Cyberbullying Suicider Had Ordinary Mental Health Problems

As usual, the self-dealing prosecutor compound the tragedy with their own publicity seeking agenda. These prosecutors should be prosecuted themselves. And I hope they are after the case is over.

"In January, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince killed herself after being bullied at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. Six students have been criminally charged in connection with her death; their cases go to court in September. Last month, I wrote a long article explaining why the story of Phoebe's death is more complicated than the narrative that had taken hold in the media—that Phoebe had been tortured for months by a pack of mean girls. I argued that the serious and unusual felony charges brought against the six teens represent prosecutorial overreach, given that Phoebe had mental health troubles before the bullying began, that she was caught up in conflicts that other South Hadley kids saw as "normal girl drama," and that the bullying, while wrong, was not the "relentless" three-month campaign the district attorney described."

Top Model Suicide

Nick Pisa

Police are investigating the death of a top male model found dead just hours ahead of the start of Milan Men's Fashion Week.

Catwalk star Tom Nicon, 22, died instantly after falling four floors from an apartment window in the centre of the Italian fashion capital.

French model Nicon worked for Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Hugo Boss and had just returned from a Versace rehearsal before he was found dead.

'Suicide': Tom Nicon had recently split from his girlfriend, a police source said

Police in Milan said today they were treating the death as suicide and investigating suggestions he had suffered from a ''complicated affair of love.''

A police source in Milan said: 'We have spoken to the friends he was staying with and they have told us that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was depressed.''

Factory Conditions Generate Many Suicides

"The massive Foxconn factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen is known for assembling famous electronic goods like Apple's iPhone and iPad. But in recent months it has gained a darker image, as a place where distraught workers regularly throw themselves to their deaths. The latest fatality came on Tuesday morning, when a 19-year-old employee died in a fall in the company's Shenzhen compound, according to the state-run Xinhua news service. He was the ninth worker this year to have died in a fall from factory buildings on Foxconn's properties in Shenzhen; two have survived suicide attempts, according to state-media reports. Another teenager, who the company revealed this month died after jumping from a company building in Hebei province in January, brings the total employee death toll from falls to 10 this year.

The string of deaths has drawn attention to the labor practices of a highly successful Fortune 500 company that has 420,000 workers on its payroll in Shenzhen alone. Two dozen activists protested outside the company's Hong Kong offices on Tuesday, calling on Foxconn to improve working conditions and raise wages. The Taiwan-owned company, which is an arm of the Hon Hai Group, has defended the treatment of its workers. "A lot of things cannot be said at this point, but we are quietly doing our job," CEO Terry Gou told a business forum on Monday. With over 900,000 employees globally in the Hon Hai Group, Gou acknowledged the difficulties of employee management. "But," he said, "we are confident we will get things under control shortly." (See portraits of Chinese workers.)"

Suicide After Investigation of Inoffensive Un-PC Remark

I would like the PC snitch, the supervisor and any corporate counsel fired for causing this suicide. They must be sued afterward.

Compensation for Suicide Spreads to Great Britain

The family of a psychiatric patient who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train has won £10,000 compensation from the NHS Trust on the grounds that it failed to protect her.

Carol Savage, 50, died in July 2004 after she absconded from Runwell Hospital in Essex and walked two miles to Wickford station.

Mrs Savage’s daughter, Anna, started legal proceedings, seeking a declaration and damages under the Human Rights Act, on the basis that South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust had violated her mother’s right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention.

In a landmark judgment yesterday Mr Justice Mackay, at the High Court in London, ruled in her favour and said that Miss Savage was herself a victim under the Act.

Related Links

• Mental health care and help for the elderly

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He said: “The defendant Trust ought to have known of the relevant risk and ought to have taken precautions which would substantially have increased the chances of this tragedy being avoided.”

He refused the Trust, which had fought the case all the way to the Law Lords on a preliminary argument, permission to appeal, although it can apply to the Court of Appeal directly.