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Gregory v. Kilbride6/18/2002
ff a new trial. I.
Plaintiff first argues that the trial court erred by requiring plaintiff to prove a medical negligence breach of the standard of care. Unlike previous cases cited by the plaintiff addressing the negligent or wrongful release of a mental patient who had already been committed, this case presents a matter of first impression concerning failure of a psychiatrist to involuntarily commit an individual to a mental hospital an issue which has not been directly addressed by our courts.
In Pangburn v. Saad, 73 N.C. App. 336, 326 S.E.2d 365 (1985), this Court held that where a psychiatrist released a mental patient with a history of violent behavior who later stabbed his sister about twenty times, the action did not lie in medical malpractice. Id. at 338, 326 S.E.2d at 367. The Court relied in part on a similar Georgia case that distinguished the legal duty in negligent release cases from the legal duty in "classic medical malpractice" cases:
" here the course of treatment of a mental patient involves an exercise of 'control' over [the patient] by a physician who knows or should know that the patient is likely to cause bodily harm to others, an independent duty arises from that relationship and falls upon the physician to exercise that control with such reasonable care as to prevent harm to others at the hands of the patient." Id. (alterations in original) (quoting Bradley Center, Inc. v. Wessner, 287 S.E.2d 716, 721 (Ga. Ct. App. 1982), aff'd, 296 S.E.2d 693 (Ga. 1982)).
Where a mental patient is wrongfully discharged and injures a third party outside the physician-patient relationship, general tort principles of negligence apply. Id.
Plaintiff further cites Davis v. N.C. Dept. of Human Resources, 121 N.C. App. 105, 465 S.E.2d 2 (1995), cert. denied, 343 N.C. 750, 473 S.E.2d 612 (1996), to support his contention that he should only have been required to prove that Dr. Kilbride was liable under ordinary tort principles of negligence. In Davis, a person with a history of aggressive and hostile behavior was involuntarily committed to a state mental hospital after beating a man to death and chasing a woman with a knife. He was released after his condition improved through medication, although he was still mentally ill. The patient then attacked and killed a motorist. The defendant-physician argued that the plaintiff had the burden of proving a medical malpractice standard of care. Id. at 112, 465 S.E.2d at 7. This Court recognized that, as a general rule, there is no duty to protect others against harm from third persons. Id. However, under Pangburn, an independent duty arises to protect third persons from harm by the release of a mental patient who is involuntarily committed. Id. The Davis Court rejected the defendant's argument that the plaintiff has the burden of showing breach of a medical malpractice standard of care. Id. at 112-13, 465 S.E.2d at 7. Rather, the Court decided Davis based on a common law negligence theory, holding that the defendant "had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the protection of third parties from injury by [the mental patient]." Id. at 113, 465 S.E.2d at 7 (emphasis added). The application of ordinary negligence principles to actions by third parties is consistent with cases in other jurisdictions that have recognized a cause of action for wrongful release. See, e.g., Semler v. Psychiatric Institute of Washington, D.C., 538 F.2d 121, cert. denied, 429 U.S. 827, 50 L. Ed. 2d. 90 (4th Cir. 1976); Hicks v. United States, 511 F.2d 407 (D.C. Cir. 1975); Bradley Center, Inc. v. Wessner, 296 S.E.2d 693 (Ga. 1982). From the outset we acknowledge the difficulty the trial court experienced in trying to determine the correct st
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