Doctors who treated a man who committed suicide after he was twice released from hospitals following earlier failed suicide attempts cannot be liable for his death, a unanimous state appeals panel has ruled, citing the professional medical judgment doctrine.
The Appellate Division, First Department, panel’s decision in Park v. Kovachevich, 104987/08, handed down Thursday, reversed a decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger (See Profile), who had allowed a medical malpractice suit by the man’s wife, from whom he had recently separated, to go forward.
