Verdicts

New York's high court has determined that a jury could appropriately find a doctor's affair with a patient was sufficiently related to the medical treatment he rendered to her to make him liable for medical malpractice damages when his actions caused her harm. Dupree v. Guigliano, 2012 N.Y. LEXIS 3556; 2012 NY Slip Op 8171 (N.Y. 11/29/12).

The plaintiff, Kristin Kahkonen Dupree, first sought treatment for depression and stress from licensed family physician James E. Giugliano in 2000. Dr. Guigliano's medical specialty is osteopathic medicine. He prescribed anti-depressants, along with exercise, to improve Dupree's mood, and referred her to a counselor. (At some point, Dr. Guigliano changed the plaintiff's prescription because she complained that the first medication he prescribed had lowered her libido.) A year and a half later after the plaintiff first sought help for her depression, she and the doctor entered into a sexual affair that began at a gym, where Dr. Guigliano was showing Dupree some exercises to alleviate her stress and anxiety. They continued the relationship for nine months, breaking it off by mutual agreement. However, when Dupree confessed the affair to her husband, he sued her for divorce. The divorce was contentious, taking five years to settle.

Dupree sued Dr. Guigliano for medical malpractice, seeking damages not only for physical and emotional harm, but also to cover the costs of her divorce proceedings ($155,000) and for the loss of her husband's financial support ($435,600). The jury found each party partially at fault and awarded Dupree damages of $154,000 for past mental distress, $50,000 for future mental distress, $134,000 for past loss of income and $166,000 in punitive damages, but nothing for the losses incurred in connection with the divorce.