Man fails suicide, becomes disabled, sues CHOMP(Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula)

[The Straight Story]

Man fails suicide, becomes disabled, sues CHOMP

By KELLY NIX

Published: August 17, 2007

A SUICIDAL man who fell from a second-floor balcony at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula — during an escape attempt using a rope crafted from tied-together hospital gowns — has filed a lawsuit against the hospital and two doctors, claiming negligence.

Micheal J. Murphy, 56, who had been admitted to CHOMP for shooting himself in the leg in a suicide attempt, was permanently disabled from the June 16, 2006, fall, according to the suit filed Aug. 13. His disability is the hospital’s fault, the lawsuit alleges.

“Despite knowing that was suicidal,” the suit indicates, “the did not order any special precautions to prevent suicide attempts or other self-destructive behavior.”

The suit contends the two physicians who treated Murphy in June 2006, Lee M. Goldman and Sohrab Gollogly, allowed him to be placed in a second-floor hospital room at CHOMP with no restraints or guard to make sure he didn’t harm himself. “They should have done something,” Richard Damon, Murphy’s Santa Cruz-based attorney, told The Pine Cone. “There are various options. One, they should have put him on the ground floor; two, put him on suicide watch; three, put him in restraints. You don’t give him the opportunity — knowing he is suicidal — to do it.”

http://www.carmelpinecone.com/070817-2.html

[Mythsaje]

1. He shot himself in the LEG in a suicide attempt?

Well, to start out, he doesn't appear too dedicated to the notion.

This is an odd story. Should make for popcorn fodder here on DU, if nothing else.

[pitohui]

3. not that odd for a heroin addict is it?

maybe his hands were shaky, maybe he was dizzy and couldn't aim from withdrawal

or maybe as the article suggests, he was a self-dramatizing bipolar and needed to be on medication so that he could make good decisions

this guy had severe mental illness (i know some bipolars, this is a tough nut to crack) and an addiction AND he tried to shoot himself even if you don't care for the body part he shot

the hospital and doctors involved were damn well negligent not to put him on suicide watch and that's all there is to it

[pitohui]

2. yeah there is a duty to restrain/observe suicides

i imagine he will get some sort of settlement, this is definitely an oversight

many suicides make a first or even MANY half-assed suicide attempts, however, as i understand it, even if you think the attempt was half-assed, you must take it seriously, because this kind of half-assed attempting is the classic "cry for help"

i know someone who killed herself after several half assed attempts, i'm sure we all do

the hospital does appear to be in error, as is the poster who seems bemused or even entertained by the clumsiness of the original suicide attempt

remember, many people who attempt suicide are mentally ill and are not able to think clearly or have a good plan for success, they just try and fumble around until they are either helped or finally do stumble on something that works

[Mythsaje]

4. I've known a few people who've committed suicide...

They didn't BLUNDER into it. There was no warning--they just DID it, including a cousin, a close friend from my teen years, an acquaintance from the same neighborhood, and the sixteen year old daughter of a good friend.

Don't lecture me on suicide. Just don't.

You may be right--it may have been heroin withdrawal that caused him to shoot himself in the leg. Or, MORE LIKELY, he was looking for a way to get some help. Or attention. Or both.