Psychiatric Hospital Settles Suicide Case
November 8, 2001
A psychiatric hospital's negligence led to a $725,000 settlement in October of 2001. Defendants Long Beach Medical Center and Dr. Ashok Bhatt settled out of court with the family members of a 32-year-old locksmith who committed suicide during his stay in the hospital.
The decedent hung himself in October of 1998 with his own belt after walking out of an anger management session. The plaintiffs argued that the hospital and Dr. Bhatt were negligent for the following reasons: they failed to take away the deceased's belt, the supervisor of the anger management class failed to notify staff members after the decedent walked out of the meeting, and Dr. Bhatt mistakenly placed the decedent in a lower status level, thereby allowing him to walk around the hospital unsupervised.
Dr. Bhatt argued that he used sound medical judgment in his decision to place the decedent in a lower status level. Nevertheless, Bhatt eventually settled prior to trial in the amount of $475,000. Long Beach Medical Center settled for $250,000.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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