Suicide Wrongful Death Attorneys

When a loved one is hospitalized due to mental illness or instability, or because they threaten to harm themselves or others, it is the hospital’s and the treating medical professionals’ duty to not only keep that patient under their care, but also to protect them from self-inflicted harm while under their care. If your loved one committed suicide after being hospitalized and subsequently released, our Pennsylvania suicide wrongful death lawyers can help. Fill out the form on the right or call 1-800-444-5309 now to get a free consultation and find out how our suicide wrongful death lawyers can help you after this tragic loss.

VOLUNTARY COMMITMENT/201

Voluntary commitment, also known as a 201, regards any individual that has requested to be hospitalized due to fear of self-inflicted harm or harm to others. When voluntarily committed the individual must request to leave 72 hours prior to leaving the facility. If that individual leaves it is the duty of the hospital and/or the medical professional treating him or her to notify the family and/or guardian of any potential risk he or she may have on themselves or others.

INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT/302

If the individual has no one watching over them and/or the hospital or treating physician feels that this individual poses too high a risk to be released it is their duty to keep the individual under their care to protect that individual and others. In this case a 302, or involuntary commitment, is put into place. The hospital is to again, keep the patient under their care and protect them from self-inflicted harm while under their care.

A person can also be involuntarily committed without medical professionals stepping in. If a friend, family member, police officer, or EMT feels a person is danger to themselves or others they can involuntarily commit that person.

Under these laws it is possible for a doctor, psychiatrist or any other health care professional and/or trained counselor to be held liable for someone’s suicide or harm to another individual. If the medical professionals treating your loved one during their time of mental instability did not hold him or her in the facility, or did not properly monitor him or her during their stay and your loved one committed suicide The Pisanchyn Law Firm’s suicide wrongful death attorneys may be able to get you compensated for the negligence of those health care professionals.

OTHER EXAMPLES OF THE TYPES OF SUICIDE WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS INCLUDE:

• Defective Drugs: Some medications can increase the risk of depression and suicide. A pharmaceutical company can be liable if it fails to adequately test a drug, disregards clinical studies and reports of adverse side effects, or fails to provide sufficient warnings regarding potential side effects. While the drug manufacturer may be liable for defective medications, the doctor that prescribes the drug also might be liable depending on the circumstances.
• Violent Crime Victims: When someone is violently attacked, the intense emotional impact and challenge of coping with the injuries constitutes damages that may be recovered in a personal injury action. If a distraught victim of a physical assault commits suicide, the family might have a legal claim for wrongful death against the perpetrator.
• Bullying: The increased focus on kids being subjected to intense bullying by their peers and others has spurred a number of lawsuits in cases where bullying victims commit suicide. Sometimes these lawsuits name parents of the bully, school administrators and others who are aware of the intense bullying but fail to take reasonable efforts to protect the victim.
• Sexual Abuse/Rape: The intense trauma experienced by victims of sex offenders often causes depression that can lead to suicide. Like violent assaults, the family of the victim of a sexual assault may have a legal claim for wrongful death if the sexual misconduct leads to a suicide.
• Prison Inmates: Mental hospitals, county jails or prisons can be liable if they have a reason to know that someone is suicidal when in their custody and control, but they fail to take adequate precautions.

OUR PA SUICIDE WRONGFUL DEATH LAWYERS CAN HELP

The suicide wrongful death attorneys at The Pisanchyn Law Firm will take the proper measures to get you the compensation and justice you and your loved one deserve. Our services to you are free until we win your case and even then you will never pay us out of your own pocket; we only pay you the money you deserve.

Please, call toll free at 1-800-444-5309 for a free consultation. We have offices in Scranton, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and can travel to you.