PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY THE PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED.

The Third Department, affirming Supreme Court, determined the medical malpractice action brought on behalf of a high school student who committed suicide was properly dismissed. The decision lays out in detail the actions of the defendants and the expert affidavits submitted to demonstrate the defendants did not deviate from an appropriate standard of care in assessing plaintiff’s decedent’s mental state or in releasing plaintiff’s decedent to his parents. The plaintiffs’ expert affidavit did not demonstrate any substantive deviation from appropriate care, or any expertise in emergency medicine. Shortly after release from defendants’ care, which related to drug abuse, not suicidal ideation, plaintiff’s decedent shot himself in the head:

The burden … shifted to plaintiffs to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether defendants departed from the accepted standard of care … . To that end, plaintiffs primarily relied on an affirmation of Igor Galynker, a psychiatrist, who opined that Duplan [the psychiatrist] departed from accepted practice in several ways, including by failing to personally evaluate decedent and failing to consider several factors that increased decedent’s risk for suicide. As to CMC [the emergency care provider], Galynker opined that it failed to establish procedures requiring Duplan to personally evaluate decedent and failed to create a “structured interview algorithm” for assessment of acute suicide risk, leading to serious errors on Beeby’s [the psychiatric nurse who interviewed plaintiff’s decedent] part. Yet, Galynker failed to provide any factual basis for his opinions … or point to any medical guidelines indicating that only a psychiatrist may conduct a mental health examination. Furthermore, Galynker’s assertion that Duplan had failed to consider several additional suicide risk factors is belied by Duplan’s testimony and the mental health evaluation, which reveal that Duplan was aware of and weighed such factors. Relatedly, Galynker never articulated how or why, if certain questions were asked or mnemonics/algorithms were used, material information would have been revealed that would have altered the medical decision rendered. Consequently, with regard to Duplan and CMC, Supreme Court properly found Galynker’s affirmation to be conclusory and lacking sufficient detail to raise a triable issue of fact … . With respect to Koch [the emergency medicine physician], Galynker opined that he deviated from accepted practice by, among other things, failing to discuss the case with Duplan and failing to consider the effects of decedent’s drug use. Notably, however, Galynker did not indicate that he had any training or expertise in the field of emergency medicine … . Therefore, plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and wrongful death causes of action were properly dismissed. Gallagher v Cayuga Med. Ctr. 2017 NY Slip Op 04941, 3rd Dept 6-15-17

NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE ANY EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED)/MEDICAL MALPRACTICE (SUICIDE, PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY THE PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE ANY EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED)/EVIDENCE (MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, EXPERT OPINION, PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY THE PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED)/EXPERT OPINION (MEDICAL MALPRACTICE,  PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY THE PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED)/SUICIDE (MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, EXPERT OPINION, PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT DID NOT POINT TO ANY SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATION FROM A STANDARD OF APPROPRIATE CARE BY PSYCHIATRIC CARE-GIVERS, AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE ANY EXPERTISE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COMMITTING SUICIDE SHORTLY AFTER RELEASE FROM DEFENDANTS’ CARE PROPERLY DISMISSED)