Soutear v. United States
| Citation | 646 F. Supp. 524 |
| Decision Date | 28 October 1986 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 83-3703. |
| Parties | William SOUTEAR, Personal Representative of the Estate of Nancy Jane Soutear, and William Soutear, Individually, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Stuart Freedman, Lopatin, Miller, Freedman, Bluestone, Erlich, Rosen & Bartnick, Detroit, Mich., for plaintiffs.
Pamela J. Thompson, U.S. Attorney's Office, Detroit, Mich., for defendant.
On June 7, 1982, Garry Soutear, a former psychiatric patient at the Allen Park Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital, attacked his parents with a knife, causing the death of his mother, Nancy Soutear, and the injury of his father, William Soutear. This wrongful death action, brought by William Soutear, individually and as administrator of the estate of Nancy Soutear, against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b) and 2671 et seq. (1982), alleges that medical personnel at the VA hospital were negligent in releasing Garry Soutear and in failing to warn his parents that Garry posed a danger of physical violence to them. The matter was tried by the court without a jury. The following represents the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Garry Soutear was first diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type, in early 1980 while he was in the Army, stationed in Germany. He was transferred from the military hospital in Germany to the Fort Hood Army Hospital at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas on March 1, 1980. Upon admission, it was noted that Garry was alert, oriented in all spheres and cooperative. He denied any hallucinations, body image distortions or other signs of perceptual disorder. He was rather guarded in sharing his thoughts but did reveal interests in unusual dietary practices, including eating dog meat, and in spiritual and occult matters. Some loosening of associations was noted, but otherwise his thought processes were in the normal range. There was no homicidal or suicidal ideation. His memory was intact, but he manifested no insight into his problems and his judgment appeared to be impaired.
During his hospitalization at Sheppard, Garry deteriorated when his medication was discontinued. Four to six weeks after reinstitution of medication, his symptoms improved, with reintegration of his personality and a return to something approximating his premorbid level of functioning. Garry was discharged from the hospital in May of 1980 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type, in partial remission. He was subsequently found unfit for active duty and later retired from the Army on a medical disability.
Garry returned to his parents' home in Shelby Township, Michigan and was first seen at the outpatient Mental Health Clinic at the Allen Park VA Hospital on July 15, 1980. He was referred to staff psychiatrist Thaddeus Kosinsky who, following an interview during which Nancy Soutear was present, diagnosed Garry as suffering from schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type.
On August 1, 1980, Dr. Kosinsky met with Mr. and Mrs. Soutear to apprise them of Garry's condition and to explain to them what they could expect in terms of the course of the illness and its prognosis. When Garry returned for his scheduled appointment on August 6th, Dr. Kosinsky noted that he was exhibiting increasingly serious physical side effects from the prescribed medication, Haldol, and therefore recommended Garry's admission to the hospital for treatment and evaluation.
Garry was an inpatient at the Allen Park VA for approximately one month. During this period his treating physician was Dr. Reddy. On admission Garry was anxious, apprehensive, defensive and evasive but was communicative and displayed no thought disorder or manic symptoms. He denied hallucinations and suicidal or homicidal intent or plans and was not overtly delusional. However, he had little or no insight into his psychological problems, blaming them on the Haldol.
After supportive psychotherapy, he gained trust and was willing to express some of his fears and disappointments to Dr. Reddy. Garry explained his interest in parapsychology, witchcraft, the occult, religion and philosophy as an attempt to understand his disturbed state. He exhibited periodic anger and hostility toward staff members, other patients and his family. He was seen on three occasions with his family and seemed to show appreciable improvement in his thinking, mood and behavior toward them after three weeks of treatment. During his hospitalization, Dr. Reddy, as well as numerous other staff who had contact with Garry, noted that he exhibited no signs or symptoms of self-destructive thoughts or plans and was not dangerous to himself or others.
Following his discharge, Garry was seen in the Mental Health Clinic by Dr. Kosinsky on an outpatient basis in September, October, November and December. On each occasion, Dr. Kosinsky noted that Garry was not suffering from a thought disorder, hallucinations or delusions and was neither homicidal or suicidal. In January Garry's condition began to deteriorate and he was again admitted to the Allen Park VA hospital on January 20, 1981. Mr. Soutear brought his son to the hospital that evening because Garry was continually pacing and unable to sleep. Nancy Soutear later indicated in a telephone conversation with staff at the Battle Creek VA hospital that Garry had been brought to the hospital because of bizzare behavior which included constant pacing, not eating or sleeping and discussing masturbation with his sisters. She also reported that on one occasion Garry started screaming and swearing in a crowd of people at a shopping mall and had displayed similar behavior in a bar where he got into an altercation regarding ice in his glass. On that occasion, Garry put the ice in an ashtray, but on neither occasion was there any report of physically violent or assaultive conduct.
In his deposition, Mr. Soutear stated that on the evening of this admission his son was too sick to discuss hospitalization and that Garry was unaware of where he was being taken until they arrived at the hospital. While waiting to be admitted, Garry began cursing and swearing at others in the lobby. This behavior was directed particularly toward a cleaning woman working in the waiting room at whom Garry threw cigarettes. The federal police were summoned and Garry calmed down without being physically restrained. Garry was hostile, uncooperative and refused to answer admitting staff's questions.
The progress notes from the Allen Park hospital for the January, 1981 admission indicate that Garry's behavior was very inappropriate. He was hyperactive and restless, with a short attention span and poor insight and judgment. On January 30, 1981, he was transferred voluntarily to the Battle Creek VA hospital, the VA facility for long-term treatment, where he remained for approximately eight months, until September 24, 1981.
Garry made little significant improvement until July of 1981. Notations from August and September indicate that he was acting in a more responsible, mature manner and assuming more responsibility for himself. He was reported to be sociable and active, alert, rational and in contact with reality. His behavior and verbalization were appropriate; he was calmer, and did not pace the ward.
Garry was discharged in late September, 1981 to a residential care home. The discharge summary indicated that he was neither homicidal nor suicidal. Within days of his placement at the residential care home, Garry argued with the home's sponsor and refused to follow the house rules. Garry called his mother, and against the advice of the social worker, was able to convince her to assist him in obtaining an apartment.
Garry was seen at the outpatient Mental Health Clinic at the Allen Park VA in October and November of 1981 and seemed to be doing relatively well. In early December, Garry called the Mental Health Clinic asking if his medication could be sent to his home. He refused Dr. Kosinsky's request that he return to the Clinic. In mid-December, Dr. Kosinsky called the Soutear home and spoke to Nancy Soutear who told him that Garry was not taking his medication and refused to seek treatment. This was Dr. Kosinsky's last contact with the Soutear family. At all times, his diagnosis of Garry's condition was schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type.
On January 29, 1982 Garry was brought to the Allen Park VA Hospital by his parents with an order signed by an Oakland County Probate Judge. The order had been issued upon Mrs. Soutear's petition and allowed a state hospital to hold Garry for twenty-four hours to perform an examination to determine whether he met the criteria for judicial commitment as a "person requiring treatment" under the Michigan Mental Health Code, M.C.L.A. § 330.1400 et seq.
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