On March 16, 2010, Kenneth Chapman checked himself into Carolinas Medical Center-Randolph emergency room, claiming that he had been seeing shadows that were not there, experiencing depression, and thinking of killing his wife. Rather than admitting Mr. Chapman, the hospital staff prescribed antidepressants and anxiety medicine. Mr. Chapman was then discharged. Later that day, Mr. Chapman murdered his wife and daughter, as well as his wife's daughter from a previous marriage.
The victims' family has initiated a lawsuit against Carolinas Healthcare System, alleging the murders could have been prevented with the exercise of reasonable medical care. The essential argument is that the hospital's sub-standard medical care was a proximate cause of the deaths.
Although counsel for the hospital contends that Mr. Chapman's actions were pre-meditated, the murders and subsequent investigations have led to questions of the adequacy of mental health care in Charlotte. According to an Observer investigation, the need for the mental health care has been increasing over the past decade; whereas, the number of beds for mental health patients have remained the same. Studies have also shown that CMC-Randolph needed to expand its facilities, but has failed to do so or make plans to do so since the studies were released. It is important to note that this information alone would not establish proximate cause in this particular case, though it could come into play during a trial.
In addition to allegations of inadequate services and facilities, Mr. Chapman's family is claiming CMC-Randolph was negligent in failing to notify Mr. Chapman's wife that he had been discharged and also failing to warn her or the Police of his intent to kill her. These warnings are not required by CMC, but CMC policy allows for disclosure of such information if reasonably necessary to prevent danger of harm to a patient or specific victim. The lawsuit also alleges medical malpractice for failing to hospitalize Mr. Chapman and failing to perform toxicology screenings.
Although Mr. Chapman's case can be viewed as an extreme result of potential medical malpractice, specifically in the field of mental health care, it leaves you questioning the potential perils that exist in other fields of health care. One wonders how adequate the medical care is which is administered daily. One also wonders about the adequacy of local facilities.
Most alarming, the North Carolina Legislature recently enacted legislation providing significant immunity to physicians and medical providers for medical negligence / malpractice. N.C. representatives chose to reward lobbyists and the insurance industry who supported their campaigns at the expense of innocent injured people. Unfortunately, the victims of Mr. Chapman may also be victims of the N.C. Legislature as they seek recovery for this tragedy.
If you believe you have been improperly diagnosed or that an injury could have been prevented, contact a Charlotte Personal Injury attorney who can address a medical malpractice case immediately. Chris Shumate will be able to examine the merits of your claim and aggressively pursue your case.
WCNC.com, Family of triple-murder victims sues Carolinas Healthcare Systems, 9/29/11
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