@article{ref1,
title="Suicide in psychiatry and medical liability: a case series",
journal="International journal of law and psychiatry",
year="2020",
author="Sabe, Michel and Kaiser, Stefan and Niveau, Gérard",
volume="74",
number="",
pages="e101671-e101671",
abstract="The suicide of a patient is a serious event that may constitute a therapeutic failure. To prevent these situations, national and international guidelines exist. When a suicide occurs in a psychiatric hospital or immediately after release, legal  action may follow, most frequently for malpractice claims related to the failure to  provide reasonable management of the suicide risk. In an attempt to respond to the  increased anxiety in the health care system and among practitioners, we used case  reports to determine the minimum medico-legal standards that the physician must  follow in the context of suicide. From February 1st to May 30th, 2019, we gathered  all available expert psychiatric reports following criminal prosecutions from the  University Center of Legal Medicine of Geneva. We restricted the extraction of cases  to those from January 1st, 2007, to May 30th, 2019. We identified 7 cases. The  psychiatrist expert provided a care setting assessment, clinical/survey assessment,  and suicidal risk assessment. Improper care setting assessment was the most commonly  found conclusion, but the two other categories were as detrimental concerning  suicidal risk. Only one psychiatrist was condemned, but the decision was revoked on  appeal. The combination of our cases and a scoping review on the subject leads to  the recommendation of minimum medico-legal standards to complete individualized  suicide risk reduction plans. Minimal medico-legal standards should be applied and  documented to optimize care practice for the reduction of suicidal risk at three  different levels: the initial evaluation, the treatment, and the surveillance.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0160-2527",
doi="10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101671",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101671"
}