The circumstances under which a patient commits suicide in a medical institution and the circumstances under which the medical institution should bear fault need to be fairly and clearly defined. However, at present, China's law does not clearly define it, so we can look at it from the perspective of the responsibilities and obligations of medical institutions.
1. Obligations of medical institutions:
1. Medical institutions must fulfill the legal obligation to save lives and help the injured: medical institutions should provide timely and proper medical assistance when and after receiving patients, and fulfill the duty of care of medical institutions to conduct inspections and formulate reasonable and scientific plans to prevent the occurrence of medical accidents.
2. Medical institutions must fulfill the legal obligations of safety and security precautions: China's laws stipulate the safety and security obligations of medical institutions, including business premises, in the Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China and the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases.
2. Circumstances in which medical institutions should be held liable:
1. Suicide of a patient with mental illness due to failure to fulfill the duty of care: For patients with mental illness, the hospital has an obligation to take care of the patient, and if the patient commits suicide due to the hospital's failure to fulfill the duty of care; or the environment used by the hospital for the care of patients with mental illness does not meet the safety requirements, and provides convenience for the patient's suicide, which may constitute a breach of contract, and they should bear the corresponding liability for compensation.
2. Misdiagnosis leads to suicide: Although Article 186 of the Civil Code stipulates that if it is impossible or inappropriate to explain to the patient, it shall be explained to the patient's close relatives and their explicit consent shall be obtained. However, it is not clearly stipulated that the hospital cannot inform the patient of the disease information that it is not appropriate for the patient to know, and if the patient is told by the hospital that he is seriously ill and dies, the hospital is not liable, but if the disease is misdiagnosed, the hospital still needs to bear the fault liability.
3. Failure to detect and stop the suicide of patients in a timely manner: Article 1198 of the Civil Code provides that managers of public places shall bear the obligation to ensure safety, and if they fail to fulfill their obligations of safety and security and cause harm to others, they shall bear tort liability. If the hospital is at fault or negligent, and the medical service obligation is not fulfilled in place, it should bear certain responsibilities according to its degree, such as the lack of care, resulting in the failure to detect the patient's suicide in time, or the failure to report to the police or rescue in time, depending on the situation, the patient's suicide may bear part of the responsibility for the patient's suicide.
In short, suicide is first and foremost caused by an act of one's own will, so usually the suicidal person bears the main responsibility, and public places such as hospitals will only bear the corresponding responsibility if there is fault or failure to fulfill the relevant obligations.