Following the death of Elzabad H. Ferguson III (“Chaz”), his parents, Elzabad H. Ferguson, Jr. and Wilhelmena Ferguson, filed an action against Blaire Bowers, D.O.; Steven Currier, M.D.; and Augusta Physicians Group, LLC, based on emergency mental health care they rendered to Chaz.
Shortly after the defendants discharged Chaz to his parents, he fled from them and was found three days later having accidentally drowned. The crux of the complaint was that the defendants were negligent in discharging Chaz without assessing or reassessing him on the date of discharge. In support of their complaint, the Fergusons obtained two medical experts — Dr. Martin Lutz and Dr. Tobias Wasser — who testified that the doctors breached the standard of care. Both doctors testified that Chaz should have been reassessed prior to his discharge. They opined that Chaz remained in an ongoing state of psychosis that rendered him incapable of caring for himself. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding that any alleged negligence was not the proximate cause of Chaz’s death.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia in its March 15, 2024 Opinion held: “Under the facts in this record, Chaz’s accidental drowning at some point in the three days after his discharge is too remote to be the proximate result of his discharge. There is no evidence that Chaz’s death was a result of suicide or violence, nor did Chaz have a history of self harm or violence. Instead, this case turns on expert testimony that despite the treatment and medication Chaz received in the hospital emergency department, he should not have been released to his parents, even with their consent. Nevertheless, as a matter of law, the record merely establishes “but for” causation or “cause in fact,” which is only part of the plaintiffs’ burden. It is true in a broad sense that holding Chaz further would have foreclosed all other outcomes outside the hospital, whether they were benign or harmful, but it does not demonstrate that releasing him proximately caused this outcome. There is no expert testimony or other evidence that explains what actually caused Chaz’s drowning death. It is undisputed that Chaz was able to swim, and it was warm summer weather when he drowned— there is nothing unreasonably dangerous about swimming in July in Georgia. The experts understandably conceded that they lacked sufficient information to be able to form any specific conclusion about what caused Chaz to drown. In this way, this case is different from others in which a suicidal mental health patient died by suicide.”
The Court of Appeals of Georgia held: “Despite the tragic outcome of the events, in light of the interval of time and events between Chaz’s discharge and his death, the undisputed record here fails to support an inference that the alleged negligence proximately caused Chaz’s death. Therefore, the trial court correctly granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Judgment affirmed.”
Ferguson v. Bowers, A23A1715.
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