"Magical thinking," suicide, and malpractice litigation.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Prospective clinical assessment of suicidality differs significantly from that used retrospectively in malpractice litigation. In the latter context, the judge or jury may be susceptible to hindsight reasoning and a disproportionate emphasis on the specific method of suicide, exaggerating its foreseeability and "magically" linking the means of death to the treating clinician, especially in the case of suicide by an overdose of prescribed medication. Such magical thinking, moreover, is rooted in the clinical context of suicide: The errors of reasoning observed in the courtroom exhibit striking parallels with the mind-set of the suicidal patient. An understanding of these dynamics suggests appropriate precautions for the clinician and thus contributes to the prevention both of suicide and of malpractice litigation.
منابع مشابه
Patient Suicide and Litigation
Suicides account for nearly 30,000 deaths annually in the United States and are the eleventh leading cause of death (National Center for Health Statistics 2000; National Institute of Mental Health 2004). Studies indicate that during the course of his or her career, a psychiatrist has a 50% chance of losing a patient to suicide (Chemtob et al. 1988). In a review of malpractice claims against psy...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- The Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
دوره 16 4 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1988