The son committed suicide - the insurance attributed the responsibility to his parents Israel today

The government insurance company "Inbal" attributed to the parents, through a lawyer it hired, responsibility for the death of their son, a young man known to the mental health system, who committed suicide during a vacation at his parents' home.

The case resulted in a lawsuit against the state because the son was hospitalized at the Be'er Ya'akov mental health center, which belongs to the state.

Like any institution of this type, the company that insures it is Inbal, the government insurance company.

A few months ago it was published in "Israel Hayom" that the District Court in Tel Aviv ordered the Be'er Yaakov Mental Health Center and the Inbal Insurance Company to compensate the young man's family with NIS 2.1 million.

The ruling was given after it was determined that the staff of the medical center was negligent in decisions related to the treatment of the young man, and the Inbal company delayed the compensation to the family of the young man who committed suicide.

The District Court in Tel Aviv, photo: Gideon Markovich

Contrary to the instructions

Attorney Liad Meir-Zader, Acting Public Complaints Commission on the State's Representatives in Courts, determined at the time that there was an improper delay in the payment of the amount of compensation. Now it becomes clear, from an investigation by the Commission, that the state added a sin to a crime, when through a private attorney, who was appointed by the Inbal company, to serve as the state's attorney in a tort claim, submitted allegations without obtaining the approval of the state attorney's office.

We note that the State Attorney's Office informed the Commission that indeed no application was made on behalf of Inbal or anyone on its behalf, contrary to the instructions of the State Attorney.

Teaching - to learn lessons

As part of that announcement by the state, it was claimed during the legal proceedings that if the court determines that the mental health center is responsible for the suicide, the responsibility will be shared and the parents will also bear it.

Because of this, and also following other reasons, the parents' lawyer submitted the complaint to the Commission after the court ruled in their favor.

The commissioner ruled that apart from the violation of the directive, in view of the special sensitivity inherent in the case, the attorney should have obtained the approval of the state attorney's office, through Inbal, before submitting the notification against the parents of the young man who committed suicide.

"As a result of not receiving the approvals to submit the notification, the attorney made an incorrect claim in his summaries to the court, according to which Inbal's approval preceded its submission, and from this he concluded and wrote that the state attorney's office's approval was also given for this," reads the decision of Attorney Meir-Zader.

She even advised the Deputy State Attorney (Civil Affairs) to draw lessons from this case and clarify among the attorneys certified by the Legal Advisor to the Government that it is their duty to ensure the receipt of written approvals required for the management of the legal process.

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