Citation

Roberts AR, Monferrari I, Yeager KR. Brief Treat. Crisis Interv. 2008; 8(1): 5-14.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/brief-treatment/mhm029

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Every 17 min, someone in the United States commits suicide. This equates to 83 suicides every day throughout the year (A. R. Roberts & K. Yeager, 2005). Suicide results in approximately 30,000 reported deaths annually. The loss of a patient to suicide is often a feared outcome among psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and crisis counselors, especially because the law assumes that in most situations suicide is preventable. Suicide accounts for many of the largest monetary settlements and judgments as well as a large proportion of malpractice lawsuits filed against mental health clinicians. Yet, clinician's often lack sufficient education on the legal aspects of malpractice associated with patient suicide. This article reviews several legal cases in which psychiatrists and/or social workers failed to protect patients. This includes failure to conduct a comprehensive biopsychosocial and lethality assessment, failure to warn of imminent risk of suicide, and/or breach of duty to care standards. Each case presentation concludes with recommendations for actions. Next, the article identifies common allegations made in suicide malpractice lawsuits. Conditions necessary to meet the criteria for a malpractice suit are laid out. The article concludes with the authors' guideline (FIKKE) for managing malpractice risk along with a decision-making flowchart designed to reduce a patient's risk of suicide during the treatment process. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Risk factors; Suicide; Lethality assessment; Duty to care; Malpractice lawsuits