Commonwealth v. Wieand

Opinion by

Judge Blatt,

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare (DPW) filed a complaint in assumpsit on February 9, 1973 against Austin Wieand1 *181(defendant) to recover public funds expended by the DPW on Ms behalf. The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County granted judgment in favor of the defendant and the DPW has appealed, presenting the issue as to whether or not the DPW can use a per diem rate to compute the amount of money recoverable, from a hospital patient.

On June 14, 1968, the defendant was involuntarily committed to Torrance State Hospital. On August 4, 1971,…