Court Opinion

ID: 9888990
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 20:09:10.317184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:50:01.938766
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
                             MIDDLE DISTRICT

STEVEN MATOS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS         : No. 192 MAL 2023
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF            :
JESSICA L. FREDERICK, DECEASED            :
                                          : Petition for Allowance of Appeal
                                          : from the Order of the Superior Court
            v.                            :
                                          :
                                          :
GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER; MICHAEL         :
H. FITZPATRICK, M.D.; RICHARD T.          :
DAVIES, JR., PA-C; ALLEY MEDICAL          :
CENTER; DAVID Y. GO, M.D. AND KYLE        :
C. MAZA, PA-C                             :
                                          :
                                          :
PETITION OF: ALLEY MEDICAL CENTER,        :
DAVID Y. GO, M.D., AND KYLE C. MAZA,      :
PA-C                                      :

STEVEN MATOS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS      : No. 193 MAL 2023
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF         :
JESSICA L. FREDERICK, DECEASED         :
                                       : Petition for Allowance of Appeal
                                       : from the Order of the Superior Court
            v.                         :
                                       :
                                       :
GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER; MICHAEL :
H. FITZPATRICK, M.D.; RICHARD T.       :
DAVIES, JR., PA-C; ALLEY MEDICAL       :
CENTER; DAVID Y. GO, M.D. AND KYLE     :
C. MAZA, PA-C                          :
                                       :
                                       :
PETITION OF: GEISINGER MEDICAL         :
CENTER; MICHAEL H. FITZPATRICK,        :
M.D.; AND RICHARD T. DAVIES, JR., PA-C :

                                  ORDER
PER CURIAM

      AND NOW, this 6th day of October, 2023, the Petitions for Allowance of Appeal

and Joint Motion for Leave to File Joint Reply Brief in Support of Petitions for Allowance

of Appeal are GRANTED. The issues, as stated by petitioners, are:

             (1)     Whether the Superior Court of Pennsylvania erred
             when it found that a third party had a viable cause of action
             under Section 7114 of the Mental Health Procedures Act for
             failing to seek voluntary commitment, when in Leight, this
             Court expressly limited liability under the Act to decisions
             made after evaluation and treatment had been formally
             initiated under the Act, which did not occur here.

             (2)    Whether, in an issue of first impression and significant
             statewide importance, this Court’s holding in Leight v.
             University of Pittsburgh Physicians, 243 A.3d 126, 130 (Pa.
             2020), requiring⎯ as a condition precedent to the attachment
             of liability under Section 7114 of the Mental Health
             Procedures Act in involuntary inpatient treatment cases⎯
             evidence that treatment has been formally initiated (as
             opposed to merely ‘contemplated’ or ‘considered), applies
             with equal force to requests for voluntary inpatient
             examination and treatment?

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