Stowers V. Wolodzko: Case Study

Chapter four, titled Contracts and Intentional Torts, pertains to the various laws surrounding physician and patient relationships. A major case that is presented in the chapter pertains to a woman’s false imprisonment by a physician. The case is known as Stowers v. Wolodzko, and it outlines the physician’s rights versus a patient’s rights in a legal lawsuit.
The case depicts the restriction of a person’s freedom, assault and battery, and malpractice. “In Stowers v. Wolodzko, a psychiatrist was held liable for his treatment of a patient who had been forceably committed against her will. Although this type of commitment was allowed under the state law, for many days the psychiatrist held the woman incommunicado and prevented her from calling an attorney or a relative.” (Showalter, 2014) While she was there, she suffered many wrongful acts, such as being injected with medications by force, and no telephone privileges. This could be seen as a violation to her personal rights because she verbally refused any medications and requested to speak to an attorney, in which Dr. Wolodzko denied. However, it was only until she found an unguarded telephone that she was able to contact her family to rescue …show more content…
The issues of false imprisonment had to be reexamined because it was only until this point that the courts had to take into account what false imprisonment entailed. “False imprisonment often involves the use of physical force, but such force is not required. The threat of force or arrest, or a belief on the part of the person being restrained that force will be used, is sufficient. The restraint can also be imposed by physical barriers or through unreasonable duress imposed on the person being restrained.”(“False Imprisonment,” 2005) The end of the case led the court to believe that what Dr. Wolodzko did was false imprisonment because there was no reason why she was not allowed to make a phone call to an