Last Updated: Dec 21, 2023

Last week PAMED joined the AMA in filing an amicus brief in Matos v. Geisinger Medical Center, et al., a case currently before the PA Supreme Court. A final decision in the case is expected sometime in 2024.

As background, this is a medical malpractice case wherein Geisinger Medical Center, Michael H. Fitzpatrick, MD, Richard T. Davies, Jr., PA-C, Alley Medical Center, David Y. Go, MD, Kyle C. Maza, PA-C, the appellants, ask the Court to overturn the Superior Court’s decision to affirm the Columbia County trial court’s refusal to dismiss the malpractice case. Appellants argue that the Supreme Court should extend its 2020 ruling in the Leight case to voluntary inpatient mental health treatment requests. In Leight, the PA Supreme Court determined that the Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) required a formal application be completed for involuntary inpatient treatment prior to liability potentially attaching to any physician. Here, the request was made for voluntary inpatient treatment absent the completion of a formal application. Treatment was denied by both Geisinger and Alley. Westley Wise, the individual who sought treatment, murdered Jessica Frederick, his girlfriend, a few days later. Wise pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and is currently incarcerated.

Stephen Matos, the administrator of Frederick’s estate, filed a malpractice suit accusing the Appellants of gross negligence and/or willful misconduct under the MHPA for failing to diagnose Wise’s condition and refusing his treatment request. Three times the trial court denied Appellants motions for summary judgment. The trial court, and the Superior Court after it, drew the distinction between processes for involuntary and voluntary inpatient treatment.

Appellants petitioned the PA Supreme Court to hear the case and the Court agreed. The Court is considering these two questions: Whether the Superior Court erred in its opinion in this case; and, whether the Court's holding in Leight that the involuntary inpatient treatment requirement of a formal application applies with equal force to requests for voluntary inpatient examination and treatment.

PAMED and the AMA offer policy-based arguments related to mental health care. The brief discusses the importance of adherence to established procedures. The brief also cautions against incentivizing inpatient care for the purpose of mitigating the risk of liability.