"Patient Awarded $3.4 Million for Improper Commitment"

"A forty-eight-year-old physician was awarded $3.4 million by a federal jury. The physician alleged that she was wrongly committed to a psychiatric hospital by the defendant internist.

She was hospitalized for five days, which ultimately led to her loss of her medical license. Her license was restored after further evaluation found no evidence of a mental disorder.

The plantiff had come to the defendant to see the medical records of an elderly aunt. While in the office, the defendant told her she was mentally impaired and had an ambulance take her to a psychiatric facility.

The defendant maintained that the plaintiff was hostile and demanding in regard to the aunt's care. His commitment form identified the plaintiff as 'delusional,' 'hyperactive,' and suggested that she was manic-depressive.

The plaintiff claimed that the physician did not examine her before deciding that she was mentally ill and that she did not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment.

The verdict included $1.6 million for pain and suffering, $1.3 million for loss of income and $500,000 in punitive damages. Post-trial motions were expected." [Mental Health Law News, Volume 13, Number 6, June 1998, p.4]