NEGLIGENCE-LIABILITY OF HOSPITAL FOR SUICIDE OF PATIENT

Decedent, a patient in the advanced stages of labor awaiting transfer from the labor room to the delivery room of defendant hospital, opened a window, unhooked the screen and jumped or fell to her death below. It was assumed by the court that death was caused by intrapartum psychosis, a condition which plaintiff claimed was recognized by the medical profession as a hazard of childbirth. Decedent had exhibited no unusual symptoms and had previously been through two normal pregnancies. The jury was allowed to find defendant negligent in not providing for constant attendance and in failing to bar the window of the labor room.

Judgment for the plaintiff in the trial' court was reversed by the appellate division. On appeal by the plaintiff to the Court of Appeals, held, reversed, two judges dissenting. Santos v. Unity Hospital, 301 N.Y. 153, 93 N.E. (2d) 574 (1950).