As reported in the Iowa Sun Herald
More details at the link
The University of Iowa's hospital will apologize and pay $250,000 to the family of a psychiatric patient who committed suicide in 2009 while on a short-term leave, under a legal settlement confirmed Wednesday.
Kenneth "Dean" Cabbage, 67, of North Liberty, jumped from a hospital parking ramp after returning from a brief outing with his wife.
The payment and apology letter settle a lawsuit brought by Cabbage's family that challenged the hospital's practice of allowing some psychiatric patients to leave unsupervised for a few hours at a time, typically to see relatives.
The settlement was negotiated days before trial was to begin last month in the lawsuit, which alleged hospital officials failed to keep Cabbage safe. A state panel approved the $250,000 payment Tuesday.
Hospital officials contend that allowing patients to go on temporary leaves is therapeutic and helps gauge whether are ready to leave permanently. But Martin Diaz, an attorney for Cabbage's family, argued that the practice has not been shown to help patients and is risky for those who could be suicidal.
"The whole point of putting somebody in a hospital setting is that they are a potential danger to themselves or others. You don't want them out while they are still potentially in that condition," Diaz said. "They ought to be used very sparingly instead of the way they were used with Mr. Cabbage."
The hospital had paid $200,000 in 2007 to settle another lawsuit brought by a Minnesota man who attempted suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of a building in 2002 after being granted an unescorted leave to attend a group treatment class. He survived his injuries.
Experts in the Cabbage case testified that such leaves have become rare nationwide since some insurers started questioning hospital stays for patients who are healthy enough to leave for hours at a time.
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