Kanter v. Metropolitan Medical Center

OPINION

NIERENGARTEN, Judge.

Jeanette Kanter, as trustee, sues for the wrongful death of her daughter, Valerie, who drowned in a bathtub while a psychiatric patient under the supervision of nurse Susan Murray, an employee of Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC). Kanter argues that only ordinary negligence is required to be shown but the trial court held that Murray’s decision to leave a psychiatric patient alone in the bathtub for a few minutes, required professional judgment and therefore a jury could not determine whether negligence had occurred without the aid of an expert witness. In the…