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Williamson v. Liptzin12/19/2000
Appeal by defendant from order entered 4 September 1998 by Judge Wade Barber in Superior Court, Orange County, and from judgment entered 7 October 1998 and order entered 31 March 1999 by Judge James C. Spencer, Jr. in Superior Court, Orange County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 17 April 2000.
This case arises out of the tragic events of 26 January 1995, when Wendell Williamson ("plaintiff") shot and killed two people in downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Plaintiff brought suit against Myron B. Liptzin ("defendant"), a psychiatrist at Student Psychological Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("Student Services") who treated plaintiff, on the grounds that he was damaged by the negligence of defendant.
The evidence presented at trial tended to show the following. Student Services operates only on a voluntary, outpatient basis. In May 1990, as an undergraduate student, plaintiff visited Student Services as a "walk-in," and received counseling for relationship issues and academic problems. The doctor who reviewed plaintiff's intake form concluded that plaintiff's problems were "fairly normative."
In September 1992, when plaintiff was a twenty-four-year-old law student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("UNC"), he screamed at students on campus and struck himself about the face. Plaintiff was referred to Student Services. As a result, Student Services further referred him to the UNC Hospitals, where he was involuntarily committed. During his stay, plaintiff disclosed that he had been hearing a voice talking to him for eight months and that he believed he was telepathic. The hospital staff recorded that plaintiff possessed a gun in his apartment.
Plaintiff refused to voluntarily remain at the hospital and also refused medication. A court petition was filed to have plaintiff involuntarily committed. Following a commitment hearing, the presiding judge denied the petition and recommended that plaintiff seek out-patient psychiatric counseling. The final primary diagnosis was "rule/out schizophrenia." One of plaintiff's expert psychiatrists explained at trial that the term "rule/out schizophrenia" means that either: (a) "it's [schizophrenia] until proven otherwise, but we haven't had enough time to prove otherwise yet[,]" or (b) "you should keep [schizophrenia] first and foremost in your mind until a less serious condition is shown to be causing the problem."
On 2 March 1994, plaintiff was again referred to Student Services after he disrupted class at the law school by announcing that he was a "telepath." Plaintiff completed an intake form on which he denied any urge "to hit, injure or harm someone" or any " uicidal thoughts or concerns." Intake psychologists assessed that involuntary hospitalization was "not appropriate as student denies danger to self or others." Plaintiff was again diagnosed with "rule/o schizophrenia." The staff recommended treatment and medication, which plaintiff refused. However, after a law school dean informed plaintiff that he might not be recommended as a candidate for the bar exam unless he received counseling, plaintiff agreed to seek treatment.
During a ten-week period beginning on 8 March 1994, plaintiff had six counseling sessions with defendant at Student Services, each of which lasted between twenty minutes and one hour. Defendant prepared for the treatment by reviewing plaintiff's chart from Student Services, which included an intake form from plaintiff's May 1990 visit to Student Services and a "discharge summary" from his 1992 hospital stay. However, defendant did not review the complete medical records from plaintiff's 1992 treatment. During the first session with def
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