Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog
Losing a loved one to suicide is a tragedy no one should have to face. The sad reality is that, in many cases, medical professionals could have prevented the suicide. If your loved one took his or her own life, and you believe a medical professional’s error or incompetence played a role in the suicide, you need to reach out to a diligent Syracuse psychiatric malpractice attorney without delay. While nothing can bring your loved one back, we can help you seek the justice and compensation you deserve to move on with your life.
Unfortunately, suicide is one of the leading causes of death among individuals under the age of 35 in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), suicide was the tenth-leading cause of death for all ages in 2013. CDC data reveals that males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of females and represent 77 percent of all suicides. The sad reality is that, many times, suicide could be prevented. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that over 90 percent of Americans who die by suicide suffer from a treatable mental illness or substance disorder. Almost all suicides involve persons with a history of mental illness. In many cases, the person has attempted suicide before.
Suicide can take place in a variety of medical settings, ranging from an inpatient psychiatric facility to a hospital. Medical malpractice occurs in suicide cases when a medical professional, most likely a psychiatrist, fails to recognize that a patient presents an imminent risk of harm and fails to provide treatment accordingly. Put another way, malpractice occurs when a medical professional causes harm to a patient by failing to use the level of care and caution that a reasonably prudent medical professional in the same specialty would have used under the same circumstances. Establishing malpractice can be complex, but we understand what needs to be shown in order to win these cases.
The first question in these cases is whether a valid suicide risk assessment was performed. Psychiatrists are trained to conduct suicide risk assessments for patients who may be suicide risks. While there is no clear method to figure this out, treating psychiatrists will typically take a number of factors into consideration, including a patient’s age, sexual orientation, employment, history of abuse, any issues with substance abuse, marital problems, and custody problems. If after an assessment, a psychiatric professional finds that a patient is at risk of suicide, the doctor must take all necessary steps to stop the patient from going ahead with it. As a result, failing to take the appropriate measures could result in a malpractice claim.
If you have lost a loved one to suicide, and you feel a medical professional’s negligence allowed this to happen, we can help. We understand that there is nothing more devastating than losing a loved one in this way. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our seasoned Syracuse misdiagnosis lawyers are dedicated to helping individuals hold negligent medical professionals accountable for the harm that they cause. For a free case evaluation, call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us online.
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