Premature Discharge

Patients sometimes are discharged early for financial reasons or due to ignorance of the patient's suicidal condition

The hospital setting usually provides seriously ill psychiatric patients with the best environment to get well. Unfortunately, all too often, hospitals discharge their patients before they're ready to go home, often for financial reasons.

When a hospital discharges a patient at high risk for suicide, or when a hospital discharges a patient without making appropriate arrangements for post-discharge care, the hospital may be liable if the patient subsequently hurts himself or others. We carefully examine "remarkable recoveries" occurring at about the time insurance money runs out.

Although the patient may appear to improve during hospitalization, the patient's circumstances that precipitated the hospitalization may not have changed. Clinicians must try to avoid "doomed to fail" discharges by asking themselves, 'What is different about the patient's condition and life situation now as compared to before admission?'

It is well known that one of the highest risk periods for suicide is immediately following discharge from institutional settings. Often the investigations of such deaths identify problems an assessing a patient's readiness for discharge or transition to a less restrictive level of care, or with post-discharge planning and communications.

Why a lawsuit may be necessary

A hospital's discharge policy, when it's based on economic considerations, can be grounds for a negligence lawsuit. A premature discharge can have tragic consequences. At the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, we can assist you in holding the negligent individual or entity accountable. If you lost a loved one due to suicide related to a premature discharge, you can make a claim for compensation. While no amount of money can bring back a family member or undo the pain of suicide, you may need financial compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, as well as reimbursement for medical expenses.

By demanding accountability, your decision to pursue legal action can ensure that fewer people die from suicide. Your actions may help save other people's lives.

Contact an attorney today to learn more

For a free consultation, call 214-618-8222 or contact us online. We are dedicated to helping families in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Illinois and other states throughout the country. With our law firm on your side, you can help us demand accountability and ensure fewer people die from suicide.