Citation

Schmidt MJ, Geller JL. Bull. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 1989; 17(3): 283-292.

Affiliation

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Region I Legal Counsel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2571371

Abstract

In a state in which patient refusal of antipsychotic medication in all nonemergency situations must be respected, lawyers and psychiatrists in western Massachusetts have employed probate court decisions as involuntary outpatient treatment orders. The legal, administrative, and clinical issues in sustaining court-ordered outpatient treatment are discussed by focusing on case examples demonstrating some successes, some challenges, and some failures. Judicially sanctioned involuntary outpatient treatment presents an alternative model to statutorily based outpatient commitment.

Language: en