KILLER'S HUSBAND FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST DUKE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993                   TAG: 9303250306
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium
KILLER'S HUSBAND FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST DUKE
A Chesapeake, Va., man has sued Duke University, claiming the school's hospital was negligent in the psychiatric care of his wife, who later shot and killed the couple's two sons.
William Tucker Moneymaker contends in the suit filed in Durham County Superior Court that Sandra W. Moneymaker of Halifax County, Va., went to the Duke Medical Center emergency room March 12, 1991.
A temporary diagnosis of "delusional disorder" was made and she was admitted for psychiatric treatment, according to the suit.
Sandra Moneymaker, then a 36-year-old housewife, said at the time that she had been depressed for two years and her husband said she had been exhibiting bizarre behavior for some time, the suit said.
The suit alleges that on March 25, 1991, when her insurance benefits ran out, Moneymaker was discharged from Duke with a final diagnosis of "major depressive episode with psychotic features."
On April 5, 1991, she shot her sons, William Alexander, 16, and David Lee, 8, in the head and tried to kill herself.
The suit accuses Duke of substituting economic judgment for medical judgment by discharging the woman because her insurance benefits expired.
Duke has a policy under which the length of admission for psychiatric patients - regardless of their diagnosis or condition - is "directly determined by the amount of insurance benefits available," the lawsuit alleges.
Richard Merritt, a spokesman for Duke Medical Center, said Tuesday the university will not comment on lawsuits.
The Private Diagnostic Clinic at Duke and Dr. Stephen L. Oxley, a psychiatrist, are also named as defendants.
Sandra Moneymaker was tried on first-degree murder charges in her sons' deaths, but was found innocent by reason of insanity. She now is in a public hospital for the criminally insane, the lawsuit states.
The suit accuses the defendants of negligence by, among other things, discharging Moneymaker from Duke before stabilizing her with anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medication.
The suit also contends that the defendants "abandoned" her after accepting responsibility for her treatment.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB