High court lets malpractice suit go forward in stabbing death

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit filed by a mentally ill man who savagely killed his mother to proceed against his psychiatrist for discontinuing medications shortly before the homicide.

Victor Bruscato, who had a history of violence, crushed his mother's head with a battery charger and then stabbed her 72 times at the family's Norcross home on Aug. 15, 2002. Bruscato told police he knew killing his mother was wrong, but the devil made him do it.

Bruscato's father, Vito Bruscato, believed the real cause was his son being taken off two powerful prescription drugs, Zyprexa and Luvox, several weeks before 66-year-old Lyn Bruscato was killed.

As guardian, he filed a medical malpractice suit on his son's behalf against Derek O'Brien, who had treated Victor Bruscato at a Gwinnett County community health center and took him off the two drugs. O'Brien had taken that action, according to court documents, to ensure the drugs were not giving Bruscato a life-threatening, neurological disorder.

Two and a half weeks after being taken off the drugs, Bruscato, then 38, was having nightmares and panic attacks, according to a family friend, and saying he was hearing voices telling him to kill, the ruling said. A day before the killing, Bruscato was seen rocking back and forth on his bed, pleading for the voices in his head to leave him alone.

A DeKalb County judge had thrown out Bruscato's lawsuit on grounds that Georgia's public policy does not allow him to profit from his wrongdoings, namely the killing of his mother. But the state Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and the state Supreme Court unanimously agreed.

"There is no question that Bruscato killed his mother. That much has been admitted," Justice Harold Melton wrote. "There is considerable question, however, regarding Bruscato's sanity and competency at the time the wrongful act was committed."

Melton also noted that Bruscato was never convicted of his mother's murder. After being indicted, he was found incompetent to stand trial and committed to a state mental health hospital.

At this time, Melton wrote, should Bruscato prevail in his lawsuit, it cannot be said that he "might profit from knowingly committing a violent act."

Bruscato's lawyer, William Quinn III, called the decision a landmark ruling.

"It's the correct decision," he said. "He had been extremely violent but was well controlled while on those medications."

A jury will now be asked if Bruscato's murderous rage was brought on by his medications being terminated or for some other reason, Quinn said.

"Taking away the medications, in our view, was obvious error," he said.

O'Brien's lawyer, Burt Satcher, declined to comment on the ruling, citing pending litigation. "We look forward to trying the remaining issues in DeKalb County," he said.