Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Mar 7, 2023
Stephanie Clark, Appellant, vs. SSM Healthcare St. Louis, d/b/a SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital, Wentzville, Dawn Holemon, M.D., Lee M. Freund, D.O., and St. Charles Emergency Group, LLC., Respondents.
Stephanie Clark sued SSM Healthcare St. Louis and other medical providers for medical negligence and wrongful death after her fourteen-year-old daughter, D.G., committed suicide following discharge from the hospital. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants on three grounds: causation, statutory immunity, and a claim for aggravating circumstances damages. The appellate court reversed on all three bases, finding that the trial court misconstrued Missouri law on causation in wrongful death cases, erroneously applied a statutory immunity provision, and used the wrong version of the statute for aggravating circumstances damages.