Legal Issues in Psychiatric Practice

In contrast to the rest of medicine, legal issues have an unusual degree of salience for psychiatric practice, in part due to the unusual power conferred on the psychiatric treatment system to hospitalize and treat people with mental illness involuntarily. Multiple factors have led to a growth of legal involvement with psychiatry over the last half-century, including more intensive regulation of involuntary commitment and treatment, increased use of the courts to obtain compensation for allegedly negligent psychiatric care, and greater recognition of the rights of persons with mental disorders and the need to protect them from discrimination. This chapter will provide an overview of legal issues affecting general psychiatric practice, including: involuntary treatment and hospitalization; informed consent; physician-assisted dying; confidentiality and privilege; malpractice and other forms of liability; the psychiatrist as a witness; and patients’ rights. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals need to familiarize themselves with the legal rules that govern psychiatric practice to ensure compliance with appropriate statutes, regulations and case law.