The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled that the state is not liable in a lawsuit filed by a former University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics patient who had a sexual relationship with a psychiatrist.

As reported by the Iowa City Press Citizen

Given the regulations that were in place, it looks like the shrink is the only one responsible for his reprehensible conduct. More details at the link

The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled that the state is not liable in a lawsuit filed by a former University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics patient who had a sexual relationship with a psychiatrist.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, the appeals court reversed a previous decision by a Johnson County District Court judge denying the state's motion for summary judgment.

The civil suit stems from a 2010 relationship between Dr. Sergio Paradiso, then a psychiatrist at UIHC, and Sonni Giudicessi, who had been treated by Paradiso and others at the hospital in 2008 and 2009.

According to court records, the two secretly engaged in a sexual relationship from March to June 2010 — four months after Giudicessi had been discharged for treatment. Giudicessi's Des Moines-based psychiatrist reported the relationship to UIHC in July of that year, and Paradiso voluntarily surrendered his medical license in 2012 after the Iowa Board of Medicine found he violated the laws of medical practice.

Giudicessi sued Paradiso in July 2011 for medical negligence, battery, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other charges. She also sued the hospital for breach of contract and negligent hiring.

The appeals court ruled this week that there is no evidence that Paridiso represented to Giudicessi that their sexual relationship was a continuation of their previous counseling relationship.

"Paradiso pursued the relationship for his own personal interest and not the interests of UIHC," Judge Thomas Bower wrote in the court's decision. "... Paradiso's acts were 'so far removed' from his employment duties the State could not be held liable."

Paradiso worked in the psychiatry department at UIHC as a staff doctor from 1997 through his departure in July 2010. According to the ruling, UIHC resident doctors are trained that it is inappropriate to have sexual relationships with patients.

In the ruling, Bower noted that the department's head of psychiatry has distributed a list of "commandments" to residents and fellows, with the first commandment being: "Though shalt not sleep with any UI Psychiatry Hospital patient unless it be thy spouse."

The American Psychiatric Association Code of Ethics prohibits relations between current and former patients, and UIHC policies prohibit sexual harassment, Bower wrote.

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