A successful, or even unsuccessful, attempt at taking one's
own life will have a devastating impact on the family of the
individual involved. On some occasions, the individual had recently
sought medical advice and consequently a clinical negligence claim
may be brought against the individual practitioner/institution
responsible for that care. A recently reported case grappled with
the difficult issue of whether a defendant in this situation can
successfully establish that the individual is contributorily
negligent.
Background
On 27 March 2019, Mrs Justice Whipple handed down her Judgment
in PPX (a protected party by his brother and litigation
friend, BLF) v Dr Ravinder Aulakh [2019] EWHC 717 (QB).
Sadly PPX had suffered a serious neurological injury as a
consequence of an attempted suicide on 20 May 2012. He, through his
brother and litigation friend, BLF, alleged that his GP, Dr Aulakh,
was negligent in the treatment afforded to him at a consultation on
25 April
