Weathers v. Pilkinton

• Decision Date: 23 March 1988
• Parties: Ellen T. WEATHERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dr. Robert D. PILKINTON, Defendant-Appellee. 754 S.W.2d 75
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

Page 75

754 S.W.2d 75

Ellen T. WEATHERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dr. Robert D. PILKINTON, Defendant-Appellee.

754 S.W.2d 75

Court of Appeals of Tennessee Middle Section, at Nashville.

March 23, 1988.

Permission to Appeal Denied by

Supreme Court June 27, 1988.

H. Michael Bennett, Schulman, Leroy & Bennett, P.C., Nashville, for plaintiff-appellant.

Ed R. Davies, Davies, Cantrell, Humphreys & McCoy, Nashville, for defendant-appellee.

OPINION

CANTRELL, Judge.

In this action for wrongful death against a doctor who allegedly failed to take the proper steps to prevent his patient from taking his own life, the trial judge held that the suicide of the defendant was an independent intervening cause and directed a verdict for the defendant. We affirm, on a related, although slightly different, ground.

The decedent, Michael Weathers, was born on November 6, 1955 and married the plaintiff, Ellen Weathers, on March 5, 1982. Mrs. Weathers gave birth to a son, Michael Houston, who was born on July 27, 1983. At Christmas of 1983 the decedent made his first overt reference to his death when, during an argument with the plaintiff, he pulled a gun from the drawer and invited the plaintiff to shoot him. In March of 1984, when his wife was out of town, the decedent called her long distance to tell her he had just taken an overdose of codeine. Fortunately, he regurgitated the codeine and when the plaintiff arrived home the next day he was all right. On Easter Sunday of 1984 the decedent got into an argument with the plaintiff and again invited her to kill him with a knife. Following that event he entered the Vanderbilt Hospital where he stayed for two weeks under the care of Dr. Robert Jack, a psychiatrist. Dr. Jack dismissed the decedent from the hospital and prescribed Elavil for his depression and referred him to the Luton Mental Health Center for outpatient consultation. For a time Mr. Weathers' condition improved but he cut back on his medicine and his depression and paranoia returned.

Mr. and Mrs. Weathers separated in late August of 1984, after arguing about an incident in which the decedent had gone to scout a field for dove hunting and left the plaintiff and their sick child at home without any transportation. On September 14, 1984 Mr. Weathers took an overdose of Elavil and was admitted to Memorial Hospital in Nashville under the care of the defendant, Dr. Robert D. Pilkinton. Mr. Weathers had apparently attempted to commit suicide since he had left a suicide note behind. Dr. Pilkinton stated to members of the family that he could treat Mr. Weathers' medical condition but that psychological problems were out of his (Dr. Pilkinton's) field.

After a period in intensive care and a total of eight days in the hospital Mr. Weathers was discharged. On November 7, 1984 he apparently took another overdose of drugs and left a suicide note. Mrs. Weathers and his sister were able to rouse him but for a time he had hallucinations and appeared disoriented.

On November 10, 1984 Mr. Weathers again took an overdose of drugs and was taken unconscious to Memorial Hospital. He stayed overnight in Dr. Pilkinton's care but demanded to be released the next morning. Although Mrs. Weathers and other members of the family requested Dr. Pilkinton to commit Mr. Weathers involuntarily, the doctor released him and urged him to return to the Luton Mental Health Clinic for treatment.

After his release from the hospital on November 11, 1984 Mr. Weathers begged his wife to return to live with him, and he returned to his mother's home where he lived for the next seventeen days in an apparently normal manner. He went back to work, he drove a car, he went hunting once or twice, and he attended a family gathering with his son at Thanksgiving. He was in a good mood, appearing to be more friendly and talkative than he had been in the recent past.

On November 16, 1984 the plaintiff, Ellen Weathers, consulted an attorney and signed a complaint for a divorce. On November 17 she told Mr. Weathers that she had commenced the divorce action but that if he would seek help they could be remarried.

On November 28 Mr. Weathers went to work as usual. After work he expected the plaintiff to bring the family car over to his mother's house for him to do some work on it. Mrs. Weathers did not keep the appointment because their child was upset, but the parties had several telephone conversations. In one of the conversations Mr. Weathers told Mrs. Weathers that he intended to shoot himself. Mrs. Weathers tried to keep him on the telephone but Mr. Weathers apparently carried out his threat before the members of the family or the police arrived.

The plaintiff, Ellen Weathers, brought this action against Dr. Pilkinton. The complaint contains two counts. The first count is for the wrongful death of Michael Weathers under our wrongful death statute, Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 20-5-110. The second count is for the tort of outrageous conduct and is brought on behalf of Mrs. Weathers personally. Under the first count the plaintiff alleged that the negligence of Dr. Pilkinton was the proximate cause of Mr. Weathers' death.

At the trial the plaintiff presented two expert witnesses. They testified that to fulfill the standard of care in effect in the Nashville area, Dr. Pilkinton should have committed Mr. Weathers involuntarily on November 11, 1984 and should have ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Weathers after the three recent suicide attempts. In addition the experts testified that it was a mistake for Dr. Pilkinton to order Mr. Weathers to return to Luton Mental Health Center for outpatient care since his previous experience there had proved unsuccessful. Finally, each expert testified that in his opinion Dr. Pilkinton's negligence was the proximate cause of Mr. Weathers' death.

At the close of the plaintiff's proof the trial judge directed a verdict in favor of Dr. Pilkinton on both counts. On the negligence count the trial judge held that Mr. Weathers' suicide was an intervening intentional act that proximately caused his death. (Therefore, assuming that Dr. Pilkinton deviated from the standard of care, his negligence could not constitute the proximate cause of the death of Mr. Weathers.) On the second count, the trial judge held that there was simply no evidence of an intentional infliction of emotional distress on Mrs. Weathers which is a necessary element of the tort of outrageous conduct.

THE OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT ACTION

We affirm the directed verdict on the outrageous conduct count. As the Supreme Court said in Medlin v. Allied Investment Co., 217 Tenn. 469, 398 S.W.2d 270 (1966), the tort of outrageous conduct involves two factors: (1) the conduct of the defendant must have been outrageous, the type of conduct not tolerated in a civilized society, and (2) as a result of the outrageous conduct there must have been serious mental injury. Id. at 479, 398 S.W.2d at 274. In commenting on this cause of action the courts have also in spoken in terms of the wilful and reckless infliction of "mental and emotional injury, humiliation and shock." Moorhead v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc., 555 S.W.2d 713, 718 (Tenn.1977). See also Holt v. American Progressive Life Insurance Co., 731 S.W.2d 926 (Tenn.App.1987).

The facts of this case simply do not warrant a finding that Dr. Pilkinton's conduct was outrageous nor a finding that as a result of his conduct Mrs. Weathers suffered the type of severe emotional distress that is a necessary element of the tort.

THE WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION

In reviewing the action of the trial judge in directing a verdict in favor of Dr. Pilkinton, we are obliged to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, McDonald v. Dunn Const. Co., 182 Tenn. 213, 216, 185 S.W.2d 517, 518 (1945), indulge all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff, and disregard all evidence to the contrary. Westbrook v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, 688 S.W.2d 453, 455 (Tenn.App.1985).

There is evidence in the record from which the jury might find that Dr. Pilkinton was negligent in treating Mr. Weathers. Although Dr. Pilkinton attacks the qualifications of the plaintiff's witnesses to give their opinions as to the standard of care in this locality, the trial judge held that they were qualified. That decision is entitled to great weight. Thomas v. Harper, 53 Tenn.App. 549, 561, 385 S.W.2d 130, 136 (1964). From an examination of the record concerning the qualifications of the plaintiff's expert witnesses we are satisfied that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in approving their qualifications. Therefore, for the purpose of ruling on the motion for a directed verdict, we assume that the trial judge was correct.

If there is evidence from which the jury could have concluded that Dr. Pilkinton was negligent, the sole remaining question is whether there is evidence from which the jury could have concluded that the alleged negligence of Dr. Pilkinton was the proximate cause of the death of the decedent. As our Supreme Court said in Lancaster v. Montesi, 216 Tenn. 50, 390 S.W.2d 217 (1965), the cases in this jurisdiction and elsewhere have generally held that an act of suicide breaks the chain of causation unless the decedent's reason and memory were so far obscured that he did not know and understand what he was doing and was not therefore a responsible human agency. Id. at 60, 390 S.W.2d at 222. In Lancaster the Supreme Court sustained a demurrer even though the declaration alleged that the defendant had deliberately tormented the decedent in a most sadistic way and that, despite the decedent's threats of and prior attempts at suicide, the defendant continued to abuse her unmercifully. The court concluded that although the declaration alleged that the decedent was "bereft of reason" it could not be said that she did not know and understand the nature of her act. Id.

In Jones v. Stewart, 183 Tenn. 176, 191 S.W.2d 439 (1946), a young man...