Kowalski v. St. Francis Hosp. and Health Ctrs. (Summary)

NEGLIGENCE

Kowalski v. St. Francis Hosp. and Health Ctrs., 2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 04756 (N.Y. June 26, 2013)

The Court of Appeals of New York ruled that a hospital and an emergency room physician did not have a duty to prevent an intoxicated patient from leaving the hospital.

The patient had come to the hospital voluntarily and requested entry into the hospital’s detoxification facility.  While the patient had expressed suicidal thoughts in a prior visit to the hospital, one month earlier, he did not express such thoughts when he asked to enter the detoxification unit.  The patient later left the hospital and was killed when he was struck by a car.

The court ruled that there was no statute or regulation that authorized the hospital to prevent the patient from leaving.  Thus, the hospital had no authority to restrain the patient.  The hospital had no duty to confine the patient for having suicidal thoughts a month prior to the event, nor did the physician involved have a duty to call the police.  If the hospital restrained the visitor, it may have been exposed to liability for false imprisonment.