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Hospital sued over woman's suicide

By David Hunt, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The family of a Mt. Pleasant Township woman believes a Washington County hospital is to blame for the woman's suicide, according to a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County court.

The six-page complaint states that Dawn Clark, 31, of Southwest, was able to purchase a handgun to kill herself because officials at Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll Township failed to inform the proper authorities that she was going home after a five-day mental health commitment.

"They have a responsibility to notify the state police and get her in the computer so that she couldn't buy a gun," said Monroeville attorney David J. Eckle, who is representing Clark's estate. "You don't want people with psychiatric problems getting hold of guns. This is what happens."

The lawsuit alleges the following:

  • Clark's husband, Anthony, took Clark to the hospital on Jan. 4, 2004, for mental health treatment after she'd tried to overdose on prescription drugs. Dawn Clark remained at the hospital for five days before signing herself out.

  • Clark was suffering from a mood disorder and personality disorder. She said she tried to cut her wrists 10 years earlier, but hospital personnel were unable to determine whether that incident was a genuine suicide attempt.

  • After she was discharged, Clark stopped taking her medicine and became violent toward her husband, who then left the couple's home.

  • Clark contacted her husband to say she'd purchased a handgun. Her father later found her at home with a gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a suicide.

  • Monongahela Valley Hospital was unable to prove that proper notification of Clark's mental health commitment was sent to the state police. The state police have no record of receiving a notice.

    Also named in the lawsuit is social worker Michael Pizzola. Citing a policy regarding litigation, hospital spokesman Kurt Weber declined to comment.

    Each of two counts in the suit asks for a jury award in excess of $50,000 to cover funeral and administrative costs, lost earnings and punitive damages.


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