Verdicts

The case before the Supreme Court involved a 55-year-old woman who had a history of depression. She was being treated by Dr. Joseph Chirillo, who switched her medication from Prozac to Effexor. A month later, the patient sought care from Dr. Chirillo again. This time, without actually seeing her, Dr. Chirillo switched the woman's medication again, to the antidepressant Lexapro. The following day, the patient hung herself in her garage. Her husband brought suit against Dr. Chirillo, but Sarasota Circuit Judge Lee Haworth granted the defense's pretrial motion for summary judgment after concluding that the suicide was unpredictable, so Dr. Chirillo had no duty to prevent it.

An intermediate appellate court reversed after holding that Florida's malpractice law, Florida Statute Section 766.102, imposes a duty on medical practitioners to treat patients “in accordance with the standard of care.” Because of this, Dr. Chirillo owed a duty of reasonable care to his patient as a matter of law. The State Supreme Court agreed, stating, “We find that the [appeals court] properly evaluated the instant case based on the statutory duty owed to [the patient] … and also properly classified the foreseeability of the decedent's suicide as a matter of fact for the jury to decide in determining proximate cause.”