Negligence, recklessness, indifference and hasty, unreasonable and careless treatment by the medical staff and a senior psychiatrist in the emergency room at Ichilov Hospital.
The hospital released without sufficient tests and without supervision a 25-year-old patient who complained of voices commanding her to harm herself, and thus the tragic case of her suicide by hanging shortly after being released from the emergency room was not avoided.
The deceased was the only child of her father after her mother died when she was 29. The daughter's suicide happened in January 2016 in a grove in Tel Aviv.
The young woman's body was discovered a few days later hanging, with her beloved dog dead next to her.
Negligence, indifference, recklessness and hasty care.
Ichilov Hospital (archive),
3 million compensation award.
Haifa District Court (archive), photo: Michel dot com
On Monday, Judge Eilat Dagan of the District Court in Haifa ruled that the Ministry of Health and the hospital must pay the father of the patient who committed suicide compensation of approximately NIS 2.9 million.
Of these, compensation in the amount of one million shekels for pain, suffering and shortened life expectancy.
The medical negligence lawsuit was filed in 2019 by the patient's father, a neurosurgeon in one of the hospitals in Israel, against the Ministry of Health, the owner of Ichilov Hospital, and against the hospital, through attorney Tali Treiband, who specializes in representing victims of medical negligence.
In January 2016, the young woman was admitted at 01:45 to the emergency room in Ichilov.
She arrived in an ambulance and was accompanied by her close friend. She was released from the emergency room an hour and a half after her arrival, at 3:10 a.m. During her stay in the emergency room, she was examined by a nurse, a doctor on duty in the emergency room, and by the psychiatrist on duty on that shift, Prof. Shaul Schreiber, then The director of the psychiatric system in Ichilov.
Eight minutes
According to the verdict, until her death the young woman was healthy in body and soul, and the referral to the emergency room for mental complaints was the first of its kind in her life.
During an examination by nurse Orit Greenspan in Ichilov's emergency room, she recorded that the patient had turned in "because of 'voices in her head' that she says are telling her to hurt herself."
For 20 minutes, she was examined by the doctor on duty, then a specialist doctor, Dr. Julita Werthein, who wrote that "in the background she uses drugs regularly, today she does not and came due to suicidal thoughts."
About half an hour later she was examined by Prof. Schreiber.
Schreiber wrote in the summary of his examination that she was "brought to the emergency room by a friend due to a report of suicidal thoughts due to the use of the drug ketamine.
She denies any intentions or desire to die and wants to go home promising not to do anything to herself.
She does not want to be hospitalized and does not meet the criteria for forced treatment or hospitalization."
"There is no obstacle for me to release her from the emergency room with a recommendation to seek psychiatric treatment that will help her find ways to deal with the hardships of life without resorting to the use of psychoactive substances," added Prof. Schreiber in the conclusion of his examination.
About eight minutes after the end of the examination, the young woman was released from the emergency room.
Brought in by her friend due to suicidal thoughts. Illustration, photo: GettyImages
"Ways to deal with life's adversities".
Psychological assistance.
Illustration, photo: GettyImages
It's hard to resist the voices
The prosecution relied on the opinion of Prof. Amichai Levy, who for 30 years managed a psychiatric department at the Shlavta Psychiatric Hospital.
Prof. Levy stated that the patient was "in an acute psychotic state with hallucinations that command her to harm herself. This is one of the most dangerous situations in psychiatry due to the fact that it is difficult for a person in this situation to resist the voices telling him to commit suicide."
"We made no effort at all to convince her to be hospitalized or to stay longer until the effect of the drug wears off," says Prof. Levy.
"The doctor did not turn to the district psychiatrist to get another opinion or to act for forced hospitalization. His conduct does not meet the accepted standards that if he had acted according to which it was highly probable that her suicide could have been prevented."
In the PSD, Judge Dagan stated that the deceased "fell between the chairs" when each doctor on the same team throws the responsibility at the door of the other, while relying on partial or missing information and not performing all the required tests according to acceptable and reasonable practice.
Immediate physical danger
The court did not accept the hospital's position that it is not an accepted practice in an emergency room to call the relatives of the subject, especially late at night and stated that "the allegation of harassment at night is outrageous, when we are dealing with the possibility of preventing suicide by the deceased's father while arriving at her home "H and acceptance of responsibility.
This is a workable, simple and easy measure that does not require unreasonable resources and that there is no doubt that if her father, a normative person and a doctor himself, had been informed of her condition, he would have come forward, according to his testimony."
Regarding the claim of the senior psychiatrist on behalf of the hospital that during the night hours the doctors are not at their best in the emergency room, the judge said: "It is improbable and unacceptable in life-threatening situations." The judge further determined that "her condition was quite likely to coincide with a state of psychosis and she was in a state of immediate physical risk.
The doubt that should have arisen in the hearts of the team should have prevented her immediate release without notifying her father, and without allowing her to stay in the emergency room until she was completely normal."
"The doubt in the heart of the team should have prevented her immediate release."
Emergency room (illustration), photo: Liron Almog
"The young woman's suicide is not fate."
Attorney Tali Treiband, the plaintiff, photo: Sam Yitzhakov
Attorney Triband told "Israel Hayom" that "the treatment in the emergency room in Ichilov was characterized by blatant indifference to the fate of the deceased.
She arrived on her own at the hospital precisely to save herself from the commanding voices she heard in her head, and the hospital sent her on her way, in fact without doing anything of what was required and was not even excluded from danger - a very basic step in the discharge of a patient who comes with suicidal thoughts.
The girl's suicide was not fate, and many suicide cases can certainly be prevented, with professional and correct medical attention."
Ichilov Hospital responded: "Our hearts go out to the family. This is a tragic case of a young woman who ended her life. When she was admitted to the emergency department, she was examined by a doctor and a senior psychiatrist, who gave the impression that the young woman was not psychotic and believed that there was no justification for forced hospitalization. Unfortunately, even when the best professional tools are used to assess the risk of a suicidal act, suicide cannot always be expected, certainly it cannot always be prevented from a person to carry out a suicidal act. However, we will do whatever it takes to draw the necessary lessons from the verdict, to learn and improve ourselves."
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