Coburn

Defendant Dwight W. Sievert, M.D. (Sievert) is the psychiatrist who treated and released plaintiff Edward Cobum early from an involuntary 72-hour detention imposed under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150. The day after his early release, Edward Cobum had a violent outburst on an airplane with his father Stephen P. Cobum. Claiming negligent treatment and premature release, Edward Cobum and Stephen Cobum sued Sievert for damages arising from the acts Cobum committed on the airplane.

Sievert was granted summary judgment on the ground that, under section 5154 subdivision (a), he is immune from liability because he was the treating psychiatrist who authorized early release based on his personal observations of Cobum. Plaintiffs appeal the grant of summary judgment, claiming that the trial court erroneously construed and applied provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act (§ 5000 et seq.) governing early release and related immunity.

Section 5154, subdivision (a) provides that “if the provisions of Section 5152 have been met,” the treating psychiatrist is not “liable for any action by a person released” early. We conclude: (1) the phrase “provisions of Section…