Sections
Psychiatry and the Law: Introduction | Psychiatrist–Patient Relationships and the
Law | Psychiatry in the Courtroom | Conclusion | Key Points | Suggested Readings | References | Legal Citations
Excerpt
The legal principles applied to the practice
of psychiatry do not differ from those applied to medicine in general. Nevertheless,
the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with psychiatric
disorders present unique concerns that may pit the psychiatrist's
duty to the patient against the psychiatrist's duty to
the community. For instance, the competence of psychiatric patients
to make health care decisions is often an issue in psychiatric care,
as well as the risks that patients pose to others and how best to
reduce those risks. Issues such as informed consent, the duty of
confidentiality, the right to treatment, the right to refuse treatment,
substitute decision making, and advance directives are commonly confronted
by clinicians when treating psychiatric patients.