McNamara v. Honeyman

On December 17, 1980, twenty year old Karen McNamara hanged herself at Northampton State Hospital (hospital). She died almost three months later as a result of her injuries. The plaintiffs claimed, among other things, that Dr. David Honeyman, Karen’s psychiatrist, was grossly neg*45ligent when he took Karen off round-the-clock, one-on-one observation and ordered that a staff member check on her every fifteen minutes.

A jury found Honeyman grossly negligent, found the Commonwealth liable for negligence, and found Honeyman and the Commonwealth liable for Karen’s conscious pain and suffering and for…