A New York medical malpractice plaintiff filed an action against the defendant physician, Theodore Strange, to recover damages for medical malpractice and wrongful death related to the death of Richard Shouldis by suicide. Strange treated the decedent in the days and weeks before the decedent’s death, including an office visit hours before the decedent’s death.
The New York medical malpractice jury found that Strange had departed from the standard of care in his treatment
of the decedent by failing to send the decedent to the emergency room the day before the decedent’s death, and that such departure was a substantial factor in causing the decedent’s death. The jury awarded the plaintiff damages in the total sum of $9,973,001.
Strange moved pursuant to CPLR 4404(a) to set aside the verdict on the issues of departure from the standard of care and proximate cause and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him. Strange also moved, in the alternative, to set aside the verdict on the issue of liability as contrary to the weight of the evidence and for a new trial, or, in the alternative, to set aside the verdict on the issue of damages and for a new trial thereon.
In an order dated December 3, 2019, the New York Supreme Court granted that branch of Strange’s motion which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of proximate cause and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him, concluding that the evidence at trial did not establish that any departure by Strange was a proximate cause of the decedent’s death. As a result, the court did not consider the remaining branches of Strange’s motion, including that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of departure from the standard of care and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him, that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of liability as contrary to the weight of the evidence and for a new trial, and that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of damages and for a new trial thereon. The court entered judgment upon the order in favor of Strange and against the plaintiff dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against Strange. The plaintiff appealed.
The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division Second Judicial Department stated in its May 1, 2024 Decision & Order: “Here, the Supreme Court erred in granting that branch of Strange’s motion which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of proximate cause and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him, since the jury reasonably concluded, based on the evidence presented at trial, that Strange’s alleged departures were a proximate cause of the decedent’s death. The plaintiff’s expert witness testified that the decedent’s suicide was preventable and that a referral to the emergency room would have allowed the decedent to be admitted to the hospital. Such testimony was sufficient to allow a reasonable person to conclude that it was more probable than not that Strange’s conduct, under these circumstances, diminished the decedent’s chance of a better outcome … Accordingly, the court should not have granted that branch of Strange’s motion which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of proximate cause and for judgment as a matter of law.”
“Under the circumstances of this case, the matter must be remitted to the Supreme Court, Richmond County, for a determination of the remaining branches of Strange’s motion, including that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of departure from the standard of care and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him, that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of liability as contrary to the weight of the evidence and for a new trial, and that branch which was to set aside the verdict on the issue of damages and for a new trial thereon.”
Source Shouldis v, Strange, 2020-05570.
If you lost a loved one due to suicide in New York or in another U.S. state for which medical negligence may have caused or contributed to the death, you should find a New York medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your suicide malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one’s family in a suicide malpractice case, if appropriate.
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