Published by Arfaa Law Group
Whether healthcare negligence counts as medical malpractice can determine whether special pre-suit rules apply. In a recent ruling involving psychiatric care, the court examined claims challenging hospital-wide staffing, safety, confinement, and recordkeeping. It concluded that the negligence theories concerned systemic operations rather than clinical judgment, so they could proceed without the required 90-day malpractice notice. If unsafe psychiatric treatment harmed you or a loved one, consult a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney promptly about preserving your rights.
History of the Case
Allegedly, five former psychiatric patients encountered a facility that kept patients longer than necessary, exaggerated symptoms in records, imposed automatic discharge delays, and prolonged stays while private insurance remained available. The complaint described chronic understaffing, little access to doctors or therapy, inadequate treatment planning, poor supervision, violence, chemical restraints, and unsafe, unsanitary living conditions.
It is alleged that the patients entered voluntarily or through involuntary commitment after mental-health crises. Their accounts included hours without food or water, ignored discharge requests, inaccurate assessments, physical and sexual assaults, unfamiliar psychotropic medications, minimal counseling, and falsified records supporting continued confinement. Several patients said they suffered lasting trauma, and one attempted suicide after discharge before another involuntary admission.
Reportedly, the patients brought a putative class action against the hospital, its management company, and a related holding company. They asserted statutory, constitutional, consumer-protection, false-imprisonment, emotional-distress, negligence, and negligence-per-se claims. The defendants sought dismissal, arguing in part that the state-law claims could not proceed because the patients had not provided the 90-day notice required by the District’s Medical Malpractice Proceedings Act.
Negligence Versus Medical Malpractice
On the motions to dismiss, the court accepted well-pleaded facts as true, drew reasonable inferences for the plaintiffs, and asked whether the complaint stated plausible claims. The court explained that the notice statute covers medical malpractice actions. Such a claim turns on the applicable professional standard of care, a healthcare provider’s deviation from that standard, and a causal connection between the deviation and injury. Claims that do not concern the quality of medical services fall outside that category.
The hospital and management defendants emphasized that the negligence counts referred to medical care, psychiatric medication, therapy, treatment plans, supervision, and patient treatment. They also noted that the amended complaint removed several express references to the medical standard of care. The court nevertheless evaluated the substance of the remaining theories. It found that the patients challenged broader professional and statutory duties involving facility administration, business operations, staffing, communication, record accuracy, resources for contesting commitments, over-admission, unsafe conditions, and falsification of treatment records.
Because those theories targeted systemic policies instead of particular exercises of medical judgment, the court declined to treat them as malpractice claims at the pleading stage. It cautioned that a later showing that the claims depend on a medical standard of care could support dismissal for lack of notice. The court also allowed the negligence-per-se theory to proceed because the cited safety statutes protected psychiatric consumers, imposed specific duties, and supplied behavioral guidelines even though they did not create new damages actions.
The negligence and negligence-per-se claims continued against the hospital and management defendants. The holding-company defendant was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Speak with a Baltimore Medical Malpractice Attorney at Arfaa Law Group Today
Distinguishing medical malpractice from ordinary negligence often requires close attention to the duties and decisions at issue. If inadequate psychiatric care, unsafe hospital practices, or another medical failure injured you in Baltimore or elsewhere in Maryland, the medical malpractice attorneys at Arfaa Law Group can assess your options. Call (410) 889-1850 or use the firm’s online contact form to request a free, confidential consultation.