PA: No Duty Because No Foreseeability

In April 2012, a woman was taken to an ER and voluntarily admitted based on a suicide attempt.  She later slipped out of the hospital, walked through the woods, and rolled into traffic on a nearby bridge.  She was struck and killed by a car; a father was driving and his (then-juvenile) daughter was a passenger.  The father and daughter filed suit against the hospital for emotional distress.  The trial judge held the hospital had no duty to the plaintiffs based on a lack of foreseeability.  The Superior Court affirmed the judge’s decision.  Now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has refused to consider the appeal.  Pennlive has the story.