Todd A. Mulhern, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of Elizabeth M. Von Linden v. Catholic Health Initiatives A/K/A Catholic Health Initiatives Iowa Corp. D/B/A Mercy Franklin Center and/or Mercy Hospital and/or Mercy Psychiatric Services

I respectfully dissent.

The majority opinion primarily rests on two legal conclusions. First, the majority opinion holds that, under Iowa Code chapter 668, a plaintiffs intentional misconduct in committing suicide may be compared against the negligence of a defendant in a case in which the defendant has a duty to act reasonably to prevent the plaintiff from self-harm. Second, the majority concludes in the alternative that the defendant, in any event, raised the issue of negligence and presented sufficient evidence of negligence to support the verdict under Iowa Code chapter 668.

In my view,…