Mental Health Practitioner and the Law

"Could I be sued?" The exploding number of malpractice lawsuits in recent years has brought this question to the mind of every clinician---the conscientious as well as the negligent.A unique and practical guide to clinical risk management, this book combines the expertise of mental health professionals, judges, attorneys, and insurance industry experts, to help the clinician provide effective treatment while reducing the risk of legal liability. Wide-ranging, clinically based, and up to date, it will be a welcome guide for medical and surgical practitioners as well.The first section gives clinicians a working knowledge of legal regulation in psychiatry and medicine, covering informed consent, documentation of patient care, and potential conflicts of interest. The second section identifies high-risk areas for lawsuits, including managing suicidal and violent patients, boundary violations, supervision issues, prescription of medications, liability in managed care settings, and treatment termination. The book concludes with a primer on clinical testimony in the courtroom.The broad range of distinguished contributors to this volume will provide a survival guide to clinicians in the increasingly complex and rapidly changing world of health care.

This is a book that is must reading for all clinicians who wish to practice in the ever changing world of managed care and increasing litigation, and who wish to provide optimal care for their patients while remaining relatively risk free… The point is well made that provision of high-level care for the patient will be the best protection for the clinician., Lifson and Simon have put together an excellent guide for those clinicians trying to dodge the fusillade of malpractice claims now being leveled at them. The discussions are sophisticated and the advice is practical., This book provides a marvelous compendium of advice to reduce the chances of being injured in the minefield of mental health malpractice., A tour de force. These distinguished editors brought together forensic mental health practitioners and legal scholars to produce an up—to--date, readable, comprehensive book brimming with important information and guidelines. It will do much to help all mental health practitioners maintain an enjoyable practice, provide optimal care for their patients and reduce the risk of legal liability., Lifson and Simon’s handbook illuminates the pitfalls of practice and provides approaches that are thoughtful, informed, and practical. A wonderful antidote for litigaphobia and the counterproductive excesses of defensive practice.

Lawrence E. Lifson, M.D., is a Lecturer on Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Continuing Education Program in the HMS Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. He is the editor of Understanding Therapeutic Action. Robert I. Simon is Director of the Program in Psychiatry and Law and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and is the author of Clinical Psychiatry and the Law and editor of the Review of Clinical Psychiatry and the Law.