Suicide ruling examined

By Joe Kafka, Associated Press Writer | Thursday, March 24, 2005

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PIERRE — The husband of a troubled Pierre woman who committed suicide after a short stay at the state mental hospital should be allowed to recover damages for her death, the state Supreme Court was told Wednesday.

Kristi Dodson, 21, was released from the Human Services Center at Yankton on April 11, 2001. She returned to Pierre with her husband, Jason, but disappeared the next day.

The woman's body was found two weeks later in the trunk of a car parked at an apartment complex in Miller.

Dodson, an aspiring model, suffocated herself by tying a plastic bag over her head.

The woman had sought help in late 2000 for a variety of medical ills. Eventually, it was determined she suffered from bipolar disorder.

People diagnosed as having bipolar disorder have intense emotional highs and devastating lows, and they are at increased risk of suicide.

After Dodson killed herself, her husband filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against HSC and Dr. Hartley Alsgaard, a psychiatrist at the mental hospital.

A Minnehaha County jury ruled that Alsgaard breached the customary standard of medical care by prematurely releasing Dodson.

But the jury refused to allow Dodson's husband to recover damages after deciding recovery was legally barred by his late wife's contributory negligence because she took her own life.

Edward Carpenter, attorney for Jason Dodson, told the high court Wednesday that Circuit Judge Kathleen Caldwell should not have given jurors an instruction on contributory negligence because that was not an allowable defense.

Alsgaard had a legal responsibility to protect Dodson from harming herself because she was not fully aware of the risk, Carpenter said.

The woman had first tried to commit suicide on April 1, 2001, while at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, he said. She was revived and agreed to seek treatment at HSC but was allowed to leave just eight days later, Carpenter said. Although she was on medication, the drugs had not fully taken effect, and Alsgaard later admitted he did not believe she should leave, Carpenter said.

"She was unstable at the time of her release," the attorney told the Supreme Court. "Kristi was sent home without one word of warning."

Gary Thimsen, attorney for HSC and Alsgaard, said Dodson had shown marked improvement at HSC. She had voluntarily gone there, and the hospital could not make her stay longer, Thimsen said. HSC officials considered forced commitment of Dodson but decided they could not succeed because of her progress, he said.

No evidence was presented at the trial, which concluded Feb. 13, 2004, that Dodson would not have later killed herself if she had been treated for a longer time at HSC, Thimsen said.

"Mrs. Dodson was questioned extensively by her treatment team at HSC to determine whether her intent to leave was sincere," Thimsen said. "At the time of her discharge, Mrs. Dodson was optimistic and forward-thinking in her goals and plans."

Allowing recovery of damages in medical malpractice cases involving suicides that cannot be predicted would set back mental-health care several decades to a time when people were indefinitely institutionalized against their will, Thimsen said.

The high court will announce its decision later.