Gary Samms Quoted in Law360 and The Legal Intelligencer
Gary Samms, who chairs Obermayer’s Professional Liability Practice Group and the Catastrophic Loss Group was quoted in Law360 and The Legal Intelligencer in connection with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s clarification of when the law granting immunity to health care providers who treat mental illness can be implemented. The high court’s decision reverses the state Superior Court’s affirmance of nonsuit in a case in which it ruled that two doctors who treated a man transferred from a drug treatment facility should not have been afforded liability protections under the Mental Health Procedures Act. That ruling affirmed the lower court’s additional holding that the drug treatment facility should be granted immunity under the MHPA.
Samms, who represented emergency room doctor Jennifer Plumb and Southern Chester County Emergency Room Associates, P.C. in the case Dean v. Bowling Green-Brandywine CRC Health Group, shared for The Legal Intelligencer that “the MHPA was enacted by the legislature to provide the physicians and health care facilities with certain protections due to the unique and unpredictable behaviors of persons receiving psychiatric care, the court’s ruling serves only to weaken those protections unnecessarily and is violative of the legislative intent of the act.”
“We believe the Superior Court’s decision was more suited to the immunity intended under Section 114 of the MHPA,” said Samms for Law360. “We believe firmly that immunity should be provided to health care practitioners in the emergency room.”
Gary Samms has comprehensive experience in complex civil litigation matters. His law practice concentrates in the areas of commercial, medical malpractice, professional liability, health care, sexual assault claims, intellectual property litigation and cases of high monetary exposure. Gary has tried well over 185 major jury trials and has had success in Federal and State court as well as arguing successfully before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Gary is a recognized speaker and lecturer, most frequently speaking on trial tactics, experts, and cross-examination. He has also been published in various health care publications on topics varying from Informed Consent to Selecting an Expert. He has also been featured on Fox Business News’ “Xpert Forum.”
