Involuntary commitment, ‘false’ memories
Cases were selected by CURRENT PSYCHIATRY’s editors from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts, with permission of its editor, Lewis Laska of Nashville, TN (www.verdictslaska.com). Information may be incomplete in some instances, but these cases represent clinical situations that typically result in litigation.
Hypnosis used to recover memories of abuse may be particularly complex legally.2 A clinician using hypnosis may jeopardize therapeutic disinterest by interjecting suggestions—often without realizing that he or she is doing so.
To avoid negligence claims, clinicians should stay within their areas of competence when treating patients. If hypnosis is deemed clinically necessary, a clinician not trained in hypnosis should refer the patient to a certified clinical hypnotist.
Multiple personality disorder is included in DSM-IV-TR as dissociative identity disorder, but approximately one-third of psychiatrists question whether this is a legitimate diagnosis.3 Clearly documenting the basis for this—or any—diagnosis may help the clinician avoid a lawsuit or defend against a negligence charge.
Informed consent. Failure to inform patients about the risks associated with recovered memories is one of the most common allegations against clinicians in recovered memory cases.
Canterbury v. Spence, the landmark case of informed consent, offers some guidance. The court found that the clinician must provide reasonable disclosure of:
- therapy alternatives open to the patient
- goals expected to be achieved
- the risks involved with recovering memories.4
Some have proposed that clinicians should disclose the risk of recovering false memories of sexual and physical abuse before starting treatment.5 The clinician should then clearly document this disclosure.
