Suicide and some of its legal problems with particular reference to the shizophrenia patient

Authors

  • Maurizio Pompili McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
  • Stefano Ferracuti University of Rome, Department of Neurology, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant' Andrea Hospital, Sapienza, Italy

Keywords:

suicide; factors; malpractice; schizophrenia; negligence; duty; breach of duty; causein fact; proximate cause

Abstract

Suicide is one of the world's largest public health problems. Suicidal behavior as a whole is a complex phenomenon often resulting from the interplay of many factors. Despite efforts to predict and prevent it, inroads toward the reduction of completed and attempted suicide rates remain modest. Both biological and psychological models have been employed to better understand this behavior. Another question about suicide is it's legal aspect. Consideration of the legal implications of malpractice is of main concern to practitioners and insurance companies, which cover them. The legal complaints in malpractice cases involving suicide are the same for schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic populations. The courts have applied various theories in imposing liability on mental health practitioners in suicide cases.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baerger, D. R. /2001/: "Risk management with the suicidal patient: Lessons from case law." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1037//0735-7028.32.4.359

Bassuk, E. L. /1982/: "General principles of assessment." In: E. L. Bassuk, S. C. Schoonover, and A. D. Gill, Eds., Lifelines: Clinical perspectives on suicide, New York: Plenum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4205-2

Bell, V. /1982/: New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, 90 A.D.2d 270, 456 N.Y.S.2d 787.

Berman, A. L., & Jobes, D. A. /1991/: Adolescent suicide: Assessment and intervention, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10079-000

Black, H. C. /1996/: Black’s law dictionary, St. Paul, MN: West.

Bongar, B. /2002/: The suicidal patient: Clinical and legal standards of care (2nd ed.), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10424-000

Bongar, B. /1991/: The suicidal patient: Clinical and legal standards of care, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10094-000

Bongar, B., Maris, R. W., Berman, A. L., & Litman, R. E. /1998/: "Outpatient standards of care and the suicidal patient." In: B. Bongar, A. L. Berman, R. W. Maris, M. M. Silverman, E. A. Harris, & W. L. Packman (Eds.), Risk management with suicidal patients, New York: Guilford. https://doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.13.2.155

Bramlette, V. /1990/: Charter Medical Columbia, 302 S.C. 68, 393 S.E.2d 914.

Caldwell, C. B., & Gottesman, II. /1990/: "Schizophrenics kill themselves too: A review of risk factors for suicide." Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/16.4.571

Clark, D. C., & Fawcett, J. /1992/: "An empirically based model of suicide risk assessment for patients with affective disorder." In D. Jacobs (Ed.), Suicide and clinical practice, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Dutcher, V. /1990/: United States, 736 F. Supp. 1142 (1990).

Fatuck, V. /1974/: Hillside Hospital, 45 A.D. 2nd 708, 356 N.Y.S.2d 105, New York.

Greaney, S. /1995/: "Psychologists behaviors and attitudes when working with the non-hospitalized suicidal patient." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, Palo Alto, California.

Gutheil, T. G. /1980/: "Paranoia and progress notes: A guide to forensically informed psychiatric record-keeping." Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 31(7). https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.31.7.479

Gutheil, T. G. /1984/: "Malpractice liability in suicide." Legal Aspects of Psychiatric Practice, 1.

Halleck, S. /1980/: Law in the practice of psychiatry, New York: Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7893-8

Hersen, M., & Turner, S. M. /2003/: Adult Psychopathology and Diagnosis (4th ed.), Hoboken NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Hirschfeld, R. M. A., & Russell, J. M. /1997/: "Assessment and treatment of suicidal patients." New England Journal of Medicine, 333.

Jacobson, G. /1999/: "The inpatient management of suicidality." In: Jacobs D. G. (Ed.), The Harvard Medical School Guide to Suicide Assessment and Intervention, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Jobes, D. A., & Berman, A. L. /1993/: "Suicide and malpractice liability: Assessing and revising policies, procedures, and practice in outpatient settings." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24. https://doi.org/10.1037//0735-7028.24.1.91

Lish, J. D., Zimmerman, M., Farber, N. D., Lush, D. T., Kuzma, M. A., & Plescia, G. /1996/: "Suicide screening in a primary care setting at a veterans affairs medical center." Psychosomatics, 37(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0033-3182(96)71528-1

Maris, R. W., Berman, A. L., Maltsberger, J. T., & Yufit, R. I. (Eds.) /1992/: Assessment and prediction of suicide, New York: Guilford.

Maris, R. W., Berman, A. L., & Silverman, M. M. /2000/: Comprehensive textbook of suicidology, New York: The Guildford Press.

Monahan, J. /1993/: "Limiting therapist exposure to Tarasoff liability: Guidelines for risk containment." American Psychologist, 48. https://doi.org/10.1037/e500412006-010

Morselli, E. /1881/: Suicide: An essay on comparative moral statistics, C. Kegan Paul & C., London.

O’Sullivan, V. /1995/: Presbyterian Hosp. in City of New York at Columbia Presbyterian, 217 A.D.2d 98, 634 N.Y.S.2d 101.

Packman, W. L., & Harris, E. A. /1998/: "Legal issues and risk management in suicidal patients." In: B. Bongar, A. L. Berman, R. W. Maris, M. M. Silverman, E. A. Harris, & W. L. Packman (Eds.), Risk management with suicidal patients, New York: Guilford.

Packman, W. L., Pennuto, T. O., Bongar, B., & Orthwein, J. /2004/: "Legal issues of professional negligence in suicide cases." Behavioral Science and the Law, 22(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.613

Peruzzi, N., & Bongar, B. /1999/: "Assessing risk for completed suicide in patients with major depression: Psychologists’ views of critical factors." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 30. https://doi.org/10.1037//0735-7028.30.6.576

Pokorny, A. D. /1983/: "Prediction of suicide in psychiatric patients." Archives of General Psychiatry, 40. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1983.01790030019002

Pompili, M., Ruberto, A., Kotzalidis, G., Girardi, P., & Tartarelli, R. /2004/: "Suicide and awareness of illness in schizophrenia: An overview." Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 68(4). https://doi.org/10.1521/bumc.68.4.297.56643

Pompili, M., Lester, D., Leenaars, A., Tatarelli, R., & Girardi, P. /2008/: "Psychache and suicide: A preliminary investigation." Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2008.38.1.116

Prosser, W. L. /1971/: Handbook of the Law of Torts (4th ed.), St. Paul, MN: West.

Randolph, V., & Cervantes /1996/: 950 F. Supp. 771.

Reynolds, N. /2000/: "Suicidal risk factors with a schizophrenic population: Standard of care practice." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, California: Palo Alto.

Robertson, J. D. /1988/: Psychiatric malpractice: Liability of mental health professionals, New York: Wiley.

Schultz, D. /2000, August/: "Defending the psychiatric malpractice suicide." Health Care Law.

Shneidman, E. /1951/: Thematic test analysis, New York: Grune and Stratton.

Shneidman, E. S., & Farberow, N. L. /1956/: "Clues to suicide." Public Health Reports, 71. https://doi.org/10.2307/4589373

Shneidman, E. S., & Farberow, N. L. /1957/: "Some comparisons between genuine and simulated suicide notes in terms of Mowrer’s concepts of discomfort and relief." Journal of General Psychology, 56. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.1957.9920335

Shneidman, E. S., & Farberow, N. L. /1957/: Clues to suicide, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Shneidman, E. S. /1964/: "Grand old man in suicidology: A review of Louis Dublin’s Suicide: A Sociological Study." Contemporary Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.1037/007674

Shneidman, E. S. /1971/: "‘Suicide’ and ‘Suicidology’: A brief etymological note." Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 1. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1971.tb00593.x

Shneidman, E. S. /1985/: Definition of suicide, Aronson: Northvale.

Shneidman, E. S. /1993a/: Suicide as psychache: A clinical approach to self-destructive behavior, Jason Aronson: Northvale.

Shneidman, E. S. /1993b/: "Suicide as psychache." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 181. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199303000-00001

Shneidman, E. S. /1993c/: "Some controversies in suicidology: Toward a mentalistic discipline." Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1993.tb00199.x

Shneidman, E. S. /1996/: The suicidal mind, New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195103663.001.0001

Shneidman, E. S. /1999/: "The Psychological Pain Assessment Scale." Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1999.tb00524.x

Shneidman, E. S. /2004/: Autopsy of a suicidal mind. (Tr. It: Autopsia di una mente suicida, Fioriti Editore, 2006), New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195172737.001.0001

Shneidman, E. S. /2005/: "Anodyne Psychotherapy: A Psychological View of Suicide." Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 2.

Simon, R. I. /1992/: Concise guide to psychiatry and the law for clinicians, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Simon, R. I. /1998/: "Psychiatrists awake: Suicide risk assessments are all about a good night’s sleep." Psychiatric Annals, 28(9). https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-19980901-03

Simpson, S., & Stacy, M. /2004/: "Avoiding the malpractice snare: Documenting suicide risk assessment." Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1097/00131746-200405000-00008

Stallman, V., Robinson /1953/: 364 Mo. 275, 260 S.W.2d 743.

Tatarelli, R. /1992/: Suicidio. Psicopatologia e prevenzione, Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore, Roma.

VandeCreek, L., & Knapp, S. /1983/: "Malpractice risks with suicidal patients." Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 20. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0090211

VandeCreek, L., & Knapp, S. /1989/: Tarasoff and beyond: Legal and clinical considerations in the treatment of life-endangering patients, Sarasota FL: Professional Resource Exchange.

VandeCreek, L., Knapp, S., & Herzog, C. /1987/: "Malpractice risks in the treatment of dangerous patients." Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 24. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0085698

Welch, B. /1989/: "A collaborative model proposed." American Psychological Association Monitor, 20(10). https://doi.org/10.1037/e529642010-035

Yufit, R. I., & Bongar, B. /1992/: "Suicide, stress and coping with life cycle events." In: R. W. Maris, A. L. Berman, J. T. Maltsberger, & R. I. Yufit (Eds.), Assessment and prediction of suicide, New York: Guilford.

Downloads

Published

30.06.2011

How to Cite

Pompili, Maurizio, and Stefano Ferracuti. 2011. “Suicide and Some of Its Legal Problems With Particular Reference to the Shizophrenia Patient”. Crimen 2 (1):26-51. https://epub.ius.bg.ac.rs/index.php/crimenjournal/article/view/580.

Issue

Section

Articles