A King County civil jury has ordered Overlake Hospital Medical Center to pay $950,000 in damages to a mentally ill woman who was assaulted while undergoing psychiatric treatment

As Reported in the Seattle Times.

Substantially more details at the link

A King County civil jury has ordered Overlake Hospital Medical Center to pay $950,000 in damages to a mentally ill woman who was assaulted by another patient while undergoing psychiatric treatment at the Bellevue hospital.

Civil attorneys Lincoln Beauregard and Steven Fogg filed the lawsuit last year, alleging that Overlake was negligent because no one was monitoring the video-camera surveillance system in the psychiatric unit where the assault took place. They also alleged that the hospital was not checking in on the mentally ill patients on a regular basis.

“You have a vulnerable 27-year-old woman who was trying to be stabilized. She wasn’t supposed to be sexually assaulted,” Beauregard said Tuesday. “Overlake Hospital repeatedly pointed the finger at her. They said she had opportunities and choices and should have screamed louder.”

The jury reached its verdict Monday after an eight-day civil trial in Superior Court.

Beauregard said his client, who had prior diagnoses of schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is even more emotionally damaged as a result.

“She now has exacerbated PTSD. She’s severely mentally ill. She’s a fighter who is doing really good trying to get her mental illnesses under control,” Beauregard said.

“This is an unfortunate situation,” Kipepeo “Pep” Brown, the hospital’s director of marketing, communications and community outreach, said in an email Tuesday. “Overlake Medical Center is currently considering our options for appeal. At this point, we cannot comment further on the details of the case or the judgment.”