The Psychiatric clinics of North America
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Psychiatr. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2006
ReviewPsychiatry malpractice and administrative inquiries of alleged physician misconduct.
Practicing psychiatrists face a range of professional liability from malpractice litigation and from inquiries and hearings conducted by health care agencies. The causes of an action and the standards by which physician conduct is measured vary widely between these two processes. Many psychiatrists do not appreciate sufficiently the gravity of the risks they may face from an administrative sanction. ⋯ Psychiatry is increasingly under the purview of regulations from multiple sources private and public. This article has reviewed medicolegal concepts and terms of psychiatrists' exposure to liability from a comparative point of view. Familiarity assists psychiatrists in navigating the complex legal arena in which they practice and provides a foundation for psychiatrists to work to change the multitude of laws and regulations when doing so is in the best interests of their patients and of their discipline of medicine.