PITTSBURGH (AP) — Attorneys for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a related physicians group want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a receptionist who was critically wounded when a mentally ill gunman shot her and four others at a psychiatric clinic last year.
The court filing argues that UPMC and the doctors had no duty to warn 66-year-old Kathryn Leight because they had no reason to believe she was specifically in danger of 30-year-old clinic gunman John Shick.
Leight's lawsuit, which was amended in April, also argued that UPMC and its doctors are responsible because they failed to have Shick involuntarily committed despite his erratic behavior leading up to the March 8, 2012 shooting.
But UPMC said the state law governing such commitments didn't apply to patients such as Shick who voluntarily sought treatment.