A 19-year-old Australian who fell from a tree and was left quadriplegic after a failed suicide attempt has failed in his effort to lay legal blame on a mental hospital that had discharged him eleven days earlier. Timothy Walker “sued the Sydney West Health Service for negligence, claiming not enough was done to care for him prior to the accident. He claimed the hospital should have prescribed him anti-depressant or anti-psychotic medication, counselled him and detained him as an involuntary patient for at least two weeks for assessment.” However, a judge found that the health service had not rendered substandard care, that it properly declined to prescribe antidepressants because Walker would not promise to stay off liquor, and that it had followed up with home visits after Walker’s discharge, during which he reported feeling better. Walker will, at least notionally, be liable for the hospital’s legal expenses under the rule that costs follow the event (sometimes known as the “everywhere-but-America rule”). (Alyssa Braithwaite, “Would-be suicider fails in hospital sue bid”, AAP/Daily Telegraph, May 25). Earlier: May 9.

Filed under: Australia, hospitals, loser pays, personal responsibility