Suit: Disabled Woman Assaulted After Leaving Hospital
CHICAGO (STMW) -- The guardian of a mentally disabled woman is suing a Chicago hospital, claiming she was kidnapped sexually assaulted after the hospital discharged her without notifying her family.
Mary Lawson filed the suit Wednesday against Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center and one of its doctors on behalf of her sister, who suffers from mental conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Lawson's sister wandered from their home in Chicago on Nov. 25, 2011, and ended up in a nearby medical clinic at 85th and State streets the suit said. Paramedics responded and notified Lawson, then took the woman Saint Bernard Hospital.
When Lawson called the hospital to tell them about her sister's mental disorders and medications, Saint Bernard staff members assured her the sister would remain there overnight, the suit says.
Instead, the hospital discharged the woman alone the same night or early the next morning without contacting Lawson, the suit claims.
Her sister was then kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a group of men in a neighborhood near Saint Bernard Hospital, the suit claims.
Lawson claims the hospital knew her sister was not capable of making reasonable decisions about her own health, and failed to safeguard or adequately monitor her.
The two-count suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims professional negligence against both the hospital and a doctor who treated the woman, and seeks at least $100,000 in damages.
A spokesperson for the hospital could not be immediately reached for comment.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
