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Dunnington v. Silva9/28/2005
ability to carry out such threat. Defendants submitted evidence that Mr. Prather never communicated any threats of violence to Dr. Silva against Mrs. Dunnington or any other person.
Thus, defendants pointed out an absence of factual support for an element of plaintiffs' claim. The burden then shifted to plaintiffs, who were required in order to defeat defendants' motion for summary judgment, to set forth specific facts that a significant threat was communicated to Dr. Silva by Mr. Prather in order to show that there was a genuine issue of material fact for trial. There is no evidence whatsoever in the record that Mr. Prather communicated a threat of physical violence against anyone to Dr. Silva or any employee of OLOL, subsequent to his commitment. Plaintiffs' own expert, Dr. Harry Doyle, admitted that there was no documentation in the hospital records of any threat by Mr. Prather to harm or kill his wife. Additionally, Mr. Dunnington himself testified that he knew of no threats against his wife. Because no evidence of any threat was presented, as required by LSA-R.S. 9:2800.2, the duty to warn did not arise.
Plaintiffs argue, however, that LSA-R.S. 9:2800.2 is not an exclusive remedy and that Dr. Silva and OLOL were negligent in releasing Mr. Prather after his involuntary commitment expired and in failing to warn others of his release. In support of this contention, plaintiff's expert, Dr. Doyle, testified that he was of the opinion that Dr. Silva breached his standard of care in releasing Mr. Prather on May 8, 1995.
We disagree with the plaintiffs. Under subsection B of the statute, a psychiatrist's duty to warn or to take reasonable precautions to provide protection from violent behavior arises only under the circumstance specified in subsection A. The statute is exclusive as to claims by third parties. Further, OLOL was acting only under the direction of its doctors, and plaintiffs submitted no evidence suggesting that OLOL breached any independent duty it owed to Mrs. Dunnington. Although the facts of this case are tragic, we agree with the trial court that no genuine issue of material fact remains. Accordingly, summary judgment was appropriate.
CONCLUSION
For the above reasons, the summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Dr. Frank A. Silva, M.D. and Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center, is affirmed. Costs of this appeal shall be borne by the plaintiffs, Emmett Dunnington, Rebecca Dunnington Smith and Darren B. Dunnington.
AFFIRMED.
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