Heroin Overdose: Hospital Not Liable, Court Says
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
November 1997
Quick Summary: The hospital was ruled not liable when after eleven days on the psychiatric unit the patient died from injecting himself with an overdose of heroin someone smuggled in to him. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals decided the hospital was not responsible for this tragic death.
The patient had a long history of problems with narcotics. He had been in an out of drug rehab. He was admitted to the hospital following an overdose. He was given a psychiatric evaluation and treated for anxiety, agitation, depression and withdrawal symptoms.
Gregory vs. Hospital, 697 A. 2d 1221 (D.C. App., 1997).