gozgals
Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 2892 Location: A Place Called Vertigo
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:14 am Post subject: Hospital Can be Sued for Releasing Pt. Who Killed Wife |
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It appears in Michigan we can now hold hospitals responsible if they don't hold pts. who they feel can be a danger to others if they go out and kill a person when they are released. I don't know if I agree with this theory/law unless of course the pt. is waving a gun around and making threats to kill others. How can the hospital be liable unless the pt. is totally unstable and they release the pt? This incident took place 10 days after the pt. was released. See link for full story.
What do you feel about this? Should Drs. and Hospitals play GOD, Judge and Jury?
Fair Use
Michigan Hospital Can Be Sued for Releasing Man Who Killed Wife 10 Days Later
April 06, 2009
Associated Press at Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512815,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime
Click link for story
DETROIT — A federal appeals court broke new ground Monday in declaring that a Michigan hospital can be sued for releasing a man who killed his wife 10 days later.
The estate of Marie Moses Irons can sue Providence Hospital under a federal law that requires hospitals to stabilize patients if an emergency condition exists, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
A three-judge panel ruled in favor of Irons' estate, although it couldn't find any precedent for allowing a non-patient who alleges harm to sue.
"We recognize that our interpretation ... may have consequences for hospitals that Congress may or may not have considered or intended," Judge Eric Clay wrote. "However, our duty is only to read the statute as it is written."
Quoting the law, Clay said it applies to "any individual" who suffers personal harm.
Christopher Howard, now 42, was physically ill, making threats and showing signs of mental illness when Irons took him to Providence's emergency room in Southfield in December 2002.
On Howard's fifth day in the hospital, a doctor recommended a transfer to a unit for the mentally ill. The transfer, however, never occurred. He eventually was discharged, with another doctor saying he didn't need to go to the psychiatric unit.
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