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Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS IN EMPLOYMENT AND MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LITIGATION Robert T. M. Phillips, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.P.A. FORENSIC CONSULTATION ASSOCIATES, INC. 1726 DEACON WAY ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401 TELEPHONE: 410.757.6797 FACSIMILE: 410.757.6799 Each year I am asked to participate in several workshops on the use of mental health experts in employment and medical malpractice litigation. The following summarizes the best of what I have learned from the presentations of fellow panelists and, most importantly, from my years of practice and experience in the field of forensic psychiatry. There are no more dangerous waters to navigate in the world of forensic psychiatry than the provision of consultation and expert testimony in employment or medical malpractice litigation. Lawyers and psychiatrists intellectually and professionally operate within different paradigms. The law tends to be reductionisticly black or white. Medicine and in particular psychiatry tends to be a pattern of grayscales. Generally the two, when interfaced, are like the proverbial oil and water metaphor. When handled with care, the relationship can be synchronous like salad dressing - if not it can be as disastrous as an oil spill! While psychiatrist and psychologists are generally better trained and therefore more likely qualified to testify about mental disorders than other mental health professionals they hardly have exclusivity in the forensic arena. Caution should be exercised in selecting an expert paying careful attention to actual expertise. The following brief guide to background and training is illustrative of the significant differences among mental health professionals: MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS PSYCHIATRIST M.D. 4 years college 4 years medical school 1 year internship 3 years residency 1-3 year’s fellowship training in subspecialty field (i.e. child psychiatry, geriatrics, Licensure as Physician and/or Surgeon Optional: Board Certification Added Qualifications Fellow, American Psychiatric Association (F.A.P.A.) 1 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation PSYCHIATRIST D.O. 4 years college 4 years osteopathic medical school 1 year osteopathic internship 3 years residency 1-3 year’s fellowship training in subspecialty field (i.e. child psychiatry, geriatrics, Licensure as Physician and/or Surgeon Optional: Board Certification and Added Qualifications CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST Ph.D. or Psych.D. 4 years college 4 years graduate school 1 year internship Licensure as clinical psychologist Optional: Board Certification PSYCHOLOGIST Ph.D. or Ed.D. 4 years college 4 years graduate school PSYCHOLOGIST Ed.D. 4 years college 4 years graduate school PSYCHOLOGIST Ed.M. 4 years college 1-2 years graduate school PSYCHOLOGIST M.S. 4 years college 1-2 years graduate school SOCIAL WORKER D.S.W. 4 years college 4 years graduate school including minimum of 1 year practicum if clinical social worker Certification or Licensure if clinical social worker 2 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation SOCIAL WORKER M.S.W. 4 years college 2 years graduate school including minimum 1 year practicum if clinical social worker Certification or Licensure if clinical social worker SOCIAL WORKER B.S.W. 4 years college SOCIAL WORKER Job classification in some public mental health systems - no degree required CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST R.N., M.S.N., C.N.S. 4 years college 4 years nursing school 1-2 years graduate school 1-2 years clinical practicum Licensure in Nursing Certification as an advanced practitioner PSYCHOTHERAPISTS The most confusing title you will run across in the mental health professions is “psychotherapist” or “therapist”. Years ago psychotherapists were almost always psychoanalysts, that is psychiatrists who did additional training in one of the psychoanalytic institutes focusing on a particular analytic theory (i.e. Freud, Jung etc). The training involved being psychoanalyzed oneself and then doing psychoanalysis under strict supervision (training analysis). It was expensive and time consuming (daily analysis for a year or more). Today psychologists and limited other mental health professionals are formally trained as psychoanalysts. The term therapist is more ubiquitous and less specific. Anyone can claim to be a therapist regardless of background or training. In fact, in many states, one may advertise in the yellow pages as a “therapist” without any licensure at all. If you sit with a patient and “talk about their problems you may view yourself and therefore maybe able to market your self as a therapist. OTHER PROFESSIONALS Finally, an ever-expanding array of care providers with greatly divergent backgrounds and training requirements has also entered the fray. Family and Marriage Counselors, Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Counselors, and the Clergy are illustrative examples. The practices of these professionals are regulated in certain states by certification codified by training requirements. For others, recovering from an addiction may be one’s only qualification. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists remain the primary experts relied upon for mental health testimony. 3 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation EMOTIONAL DISTRESS Whether the claim emanates from sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of age, race, gender, or related employment tort claims, the clinical assessment of psychological damage is the primary task of the expert. When a person is physically injured by an individual and a legal cause of action ensues, the use of medical testimony in establishing the extent of injury, potential limitations, incapacity’s and resulting disability seems fairly straight forward and causes little angst for the litigators. The ambiguity of emotional distress in litigation, which requires its identification, authentication, assessment and measurement may be more difficult to understand initially, but its understanding is not elusive. More often than not experts engage in intellectual contests supporting the litigator’s polar positions on the presence or absence of emotional distress. In reality, there are very few adversarial scenarios that do not cause some degree of mental anguish. In the employment law arena, the clinician will best serve counsel by identifying that psychological pain that is reasonable and expected in a given work related circumstance from that which originates and is sustained by the alleged wrongful acts of an employer. Through careful examination of the plaintiff a determination of the preexistence of a mental illness and/or the exacerbation of preexisting conditions as either would relate to the complaint is essential to answering the question of “induced” emotional distress. Employment records, collateral interviews of spouses, coworkers and supervisors will likely result in greater accuracy in a diagnostic opinion. INDEPENDENT MEDICAL/PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION The conduct of a competent and reliable psychiatric examination should include a thorough assessment of the Complaint, the presence of any acute illness, a comprehensive exploration of the work-related allegations of personal, family, medical, employment and prior psychiatric history and the performance of a mental status examination. The mental status examination should assess the general presentation of the plaintiff, with specific focus upon the mental faculties of state of consciousness, intellectual functioning, attention, concentration, speech, orientation, mood and affect, form of thought, thought content, perceptions, judgement, and memory. Certain cases may require neuropsychological testing. This is particularly useful in helping to identify organic syndromes, localizing organic pathology and discriminating between borderline psychotic states. Neuropsychological testing is generally the province of clinical psychologists who will report their findings to a psychiatrist or incorporate them into their own diagnostic opinion if they are serving as the primary expert. Examples of the most commonly used psychological tests are: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) Bender-Gestalt Test Roschach test Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Draw-a-Person Test 4 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation Other sophisticated medical or neurological consultations and diagnostic tests may be indicated such as: BRAINWAVE STUDIES Electroencephalograpy (EEG) BRAIN IMAGING STUDIES Structural Techniques Computer Assisted Tomography (CT) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Functional Techniques Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) LABORATORY STUDIES Blood Chemistries Thyroid Function Tests These are medical assessments and will be performed by the psychiatrist or by a neurologist consulting to the psychiatrist. DIAGNOSIS Ultimately a qualified expert should be able to define the identified mental disorders suffered by the plaintiff using the nomenclature of psychiatry as codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders DSM-IV. The multi-axial diagnostic system should be applied in the context of the complaint as modified and summarized by the following table prepared by the law firm of Richtel & Smith: AXIS I Major Psychiatric Illness: Do the alleged symptoms meet the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis? Disorders of Thought - Psychosis; Disorders of Mood-Depression) (i.e. AXIS II Personality Disorders: Early onset- Lifelong maladaptive personality traits. If present, what are they and how do they influence the current clinical picture. AXIS III Pertinent Medical Disorder: How do they affect psychiatric diagnosis? Do they pre-exist? Influenced by medications? AXIS IV Psychosocial Stressors: 5 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation Few psychiatric conditions have a single cause. This is the causation axis for attorneys. What are the various stressors currently operating in the litigant’s life? Is a superseding intervening psychological stressor present that breaks the chain of causation? AXIS V Global Assessment of Functioning: Assessment of functional impairment. Considers psychological, social and occupational functioning on a hypothetical continuum of 0% (inadequate information) to100% (superior). Remember that diagnosis by itself is meaningless. It is the level of functional impairment that counts. (after Smith, William J. 1996 ) In addition to diagnosis, a psychodynamic formulation should be provided by the expert who integrates the clinical findings with the unique presentation and adaptive capacities or lack thereof. RETAINING AN EXPERT Be clear of what you are looking for. By that I mean the requisite training and experience to answer objectively the clinical and forensic questions not to give you the answer that you seek. Determine whether you seek a trial consultant, potential expert or both. Your expert may ultimately become the most important communicator of critical information to a finder of fact or a jury, not to mention yourself. Make certain that the expert has mastery not only of the specific subject area, but also a facility to communicate possibly complex clinical material in a simple and understandable manner. Jargon is kryptonite to a lay person. Make the effort to assess the background, education, training and experience including lectures and publications of your expert with an eye toward potential bias. Ask the tough questions of your expert before opposing counsel does. Be wary of a litigant’s treating mental health professionals being used as an expert witness. Therapeutic relationships are founded upon trust and advocacy for care. Impartiality is a rare fruit from this vine rendering the credibility of the treater/expert legitimately suspect. Be wary of experts who are ready to give an opinion without having reviewed the complaint, the employment record, or who do not seek to obtain collateral information from a spouse or significant other, family, neighbors, coworkers, supervisors, or other relevant persons who can shed light on the mental state of the litigant before and after the alleged injury. 6 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation Remember that experts like attorneys are expensive consultants. Maximize their use by focusing your requests of them. The best expert is one who is willing to disappoint you with his opinion but will never disappoint you with his standard of practice. PSYCHIATRIC ISSUES IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE I. Boundary Violations The best reference on this subject is that of Robert I. Simon, M.D, whose chapter in Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry is definitive. I have liberally relied upon this chapter to organize the following commentary. Treatment in psychiatric practice can be reductionistically viewed to consist of either verbal (psychotherapy) or somatic (medication) procedures. Included in the somatic treatment would be electroconvulsive therapy. Because therapists are of such varied discipline, and training the ability to codify beyond such classifications as individual, group, begins to take on more of a description of the technique rather than anything else. For our discussion it may be easier to focus upon what should happen universally during the therapeutic experience and of course what should not. Perhaps the best way to conceptualize this discussion is to consider what is commonly referred to as treatment boundaries in psychiatric practice. The concept establishes the perimeters within which ethical and responsible treatment is to occur. The therapist sets the boundaries that define and secure the professional relationship of the therapist with the patient. Simon describes psychotherapy as “the impossible task” He writes: “ All psychiatric treatments, regardless of theoretical orientation, are based on the fundamental premise that the interaction with another human being can alleviate psychic distress, change behavior, and alter a person’s perspective of the world (Simon and Sadoff 1992). Psychotherapy can be defined as the application of clinical knowledge and skill to a dynamic psychological interaction between two people for the purpose of alleviating mental and emotional suffering. This principle also applies to biological and behavioral therapies. (Simon 1990). There are no perfect therapies and there are no perfect therapists.” Treatment boundary violations then are those event in which a therapist clearly crosses the line that demarcates acceptable and appropriate practice. They occur on a continuum and usually interfere with the provision of good care to the patient. Boundary violations usually occur when therapists use the patient or the therapy to act out their own conflicts. As a result, patients may be misdiagnosed or receive inappropriate or useless treatment. The patients’ original illness may worsen. Boundary violations represent deviations from the standard of care, which make for the basis of a malpractice suit. Therapists who create no boundaries or maintain idiosyncratic boundaries are likely to provide negligent treatment and are likely to harm patients. Boundary violations may be construed as 7 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation negligent psychotherapy. Such is usually the case in a sexual misconduct claim as well as other suits alleging exploitation of patients. The following “boundary guidelines” are commonly accepted by practitioners in the field to provide a framework for psychotherapy that helps maintain the integrity of the treatment process: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) Maintain relative therapist neutrality Foster psychological separateness of patient Protect patient confidentiality Obtain informed consent for treatments and procedures Interact verbally with patients Ensure no previous, current, or future personal relationship with the patient Minimize physical contact Preserve relative anonymity of therapist Establish a stable fee policy Provide consistent, private and professional setting Define time and length of session These guidelines are predicated upon several guiding principles, the first and foremost of which is that the therapist must refrain from obtaining personal gratification at the expense of the patient, the so called “rule of abstinence” (Freud 1959). The rule of abstinence give rise to the concept of “relative neutrality” which places the patients agenda in a position of paramount importance and relegates the therapist to a position of having to know their place and staying out of the patient’s life. Simply put, a therapist is not a parent and does not have the role of making decisions for or vetoing decision of the patient. If a therapist believes an otherwise competent patient is about to make a foolish decision, their role should be limited to raising the questionable decision as a treatment issue. It is appropriate to explore with, not to coerce or decide for the patient. The obvious exception is in the case of an incompetent individual where such intervention is necessary to protect the life of the patient or that of others because of acute mental illness. At the other end of the spectrum are court ordered treatments such as those designed to restore to competence solely for the purpose of execution (Phillips 1996). Such activity is well defined by statute though not always fully understood by patients, family members or even therapists. The goal of therapy is to foster patient autonomy and self-determination. As a matter of law, the doctor-patient relationship is fiduciary and with it arises a “duty of care” that is implicit: not to use the patient for personal advantage. Finally, the Principles of Medical Ethics with Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry instructs: “A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical service with compassion and respect for human dignity.” 8 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation II. Transference and Countertransference Although these constructs originate historically from Freud and are a major criterion by which psychoanalysis can be distinguished from other forms of psychotherapy, the conceptual framework is seldom absent from any interaction of patient and therapist. As such, a basic understanding of this phenomenon is useful particularly when considering how and whether boundary violations have or are alleged to have occurred. By Kaplan and Sadock’s definition, “Transference is the unconscious feelings and behavior exhibited toward the therapist that are based upon infantile wishes the patient has toward parents or parental figures. The transference may be positive in which the therapist needs to be seen as a person of exceptional character, worth and ability; or it may be negative in which the therapist becomes the embodiment of what the patient experienced or feared from parental figures in the past. Negative transference’s can be expressed in highly labile and volatile ways, especially I patients whose personalities are described as borderline or narcissistic. Both situations reflect the patients need to repeat unresolved childhood influences.” In psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the task of the therapist is to interpret the transference and to help the patient gain insight into their emotions and behaviors thereby increasing their ability to live their lives based upon mature and realistic expectations rather than irrational childhood fantasies. Whether you believe in this model or not, there is no escaping the fact that patients are going to develop feelings about their therapists consciously and unconsciously and those feelings have the potential to affect the therapeutic relationship demonstrably. Countertransference encompasses a broad spectrum of the therapists reactions to the patient both conscience and unconscience reactions to the patient which may interfere with the therapists ability to remain detached and objective. Regardless of the type of psychotherapy or, for that matter, whether the patient is seeking treatment because of issues largely in the remote past of the patient’s life or that which seems to arise from current stresses and pressures, issues of transference and countertransference loom and may give rise to therapist misconduct or false accusations by the patient. III. Therapist Patient Sex: Clinical Issues Boundary Violations Although every case of sexual misconduct is unique, a “typical” scenario described by Simon (1989) details a progressive, increasingly damaging succession of boundary violations: • Therapists position of neutrality is gradually eroded in subtle ways 9 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation • • • • • • • • • Therapist and patient address each other by first names Therapy sessions become less clinical and more social Therapist’s self-disclosures occur, usually about current problems and sexual fantasies about the patient Therapist begins touching patient, usually by hugs and embraces Therapist gains control over patient, usually by manipulating her transference and medication Therapy sessions are rescheduled for the end of the day Therapy sessions become extended in time Therapist and patient have drinks.dinner after sessions; dating begins Therapist-patient sex begins Transference Exploitation Patients who come to psychiatric treatment are vulnerable because of their emotional pain and suffering. Often they have impaired decision-making and judgmental capacities. Abuse of the transference by engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient is negligence per se and is an ethical violation. Ethical standards concerning sex with patients after treatment has terminated are evolving. The potential for exploitation remains high particularly if termination occurred for the purpose of establishing a future sexual relationship. Some states have moved to set statutory prohibitionary periods following termination of therapy. Even though it may not be determined illegal by statute for a therapist to have sex with a former patient it may still be unethical. The dilemmas continue. To what extent does a former patient have the right to associate with and to choose their sexual partner? Some patients marry their former therapist. Therapist sex with a former patient presents complex ethical and legal issues. IV. Intentional Torts The following outlines are useful adaptations from the Harvard Board Review Course Lectures in Forensic Psychiatry 1) False imprisonment (wrongful restraint, commitment) a) Restraint or confinement of an individual with an intent to deprive the individual of his or her freedom in an unjustified manner b) Willful and without just cause c) Physical force not necessary; deception is enough, as is apprehension of force d) Example: (1) Threat to commit a voluntarily hospitalized, non dangerous patient to a hospital if he does not remain and accept treatment (2) Commitment when requirements are not met e) Defenses: consent, good faith clinical judgement that the requirements were met, statutory immunity, emergency 2) Battery a) Intentional touching of another without their consent and without justification b) Contact has to occur 10 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation c) Example: Involuntary medication or restraint absent emergency d) Defenses: consent, emergency e) Criminal (with assault) or civil (with or without assault) 3) Intentional misrepresentation (deceit or fraud) a) A false representation made by one person to another with intent to persuade the other person to rely on the information and act in a manner that causes them harm. b) Common element in other torts, e.g. battery c) Example: (1) voluntary agreement to treatment with medication based upon false statements of risks; (2) false statements made regarding diagnosis in an effort to keep patient in treatment; (3) billing for non-sessions; (4) describing sex with therapist as part of treatment. V. Unintentional Torts: Negligence and Malpractice Negligence 1) Elements of proof: the Four D’S a) Dereliction of a b) Duty which c) Directly causes d) Damages 2) Standard of care defined by custom and practice of other physicians with the same training and theoretical orientation. a) Locality rule (is it fading?) b) Error in judgement is not enough 3) Duty: A changing concept a) May be explicit(accepting patient into treatment) or implicit (driving on highway, working in the ER) b) To whom is it owed? i) Original contractual notion ii) Duty to third party ( Managed Care Organizations) 4) Direct causation a) Causation in fact: The But For Test b) Proximate or legal causation 5) Damages a) Physical or emotional b) Calculated as present value of lost earnings (including lost services) and pain and suffering Malpractice (Selected Psychiatric Issues) 11 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation 1) General comments a) Often incorporates both intentional and unintentional torts b) All four elements must be proved 2) Top six allegations of psychiatric malpractice according to the Risk Management Foundation 1991-1994 a) Improper diagnosis and/or treatment 25% b) Violation of rights 13% c) Inadequate monitoring 11% d) Sexual misconduct or undue familiarity 11% e) Medication-related adverse outcomes 10% f) Failure to insure safety 9% 3) Respondeat superior: Let the master answer a) The "master” may be held liable in certain cases for the wrongful acts of the servant b) Acts must be within the scope of the employment c) Clinical supervision is the most frequent source of such causes of action i) Supervising residents or other trainees ii) Medication backup iii) Supervision of non-physicians Caveat to Clinicians: “If you sign, the case is thine”- Thomas Gutheil, M.D. 4) Abandonment a) Unilateral and unjustified termination of a doctor-patient relationship without reasonable notice, which leaves the patient without treatment; becomes actionable if injury results. b) Examples i) The “no show” patient and the 3 letter approach ii) Coverage during absences: answering service, reachable, selection of competent coverage. 5) Medical Informed Consent a) Definition: A process by which one individual agrees to allow another individual to intrude upon their bodily integrity or their rights where the agreeing party is competent to consent and the consent is given voluntarily and with a reasonable degree of knowledge of the factual situation. b) Elements of informed consent: i) Standards (1) Professional Standard: That amount of information which the reasonable medical practitioner would provide under the same circumstance (2) Materiality standard: What the average patient would require to make a decision under the same circumstances (3) Combined standard: Reasonable medical practitioner plus whether it was “sufficient to insure informed consent” 12 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation ii) General requirements: (1) Nature of condition and procedures to be performed (2) Nature and probability of material risks involved (3) Reasonably expected benefits (4) Inability to predict results (5) Irreversibility of procedure if that is the case (6) Likely result of no treatment and available alternatives including risks and benefits of each. iii) Voluntariness (1) Free of coercion, subtle or overt iv) Competency (1) Task specific (2) Legal concept(competence) vs. clinical practice (capacity) 6) Confidentiality a) Definition: i) Professional’s duty to keep matters revealed in confidence from third parties b) Circle of knowing model: i) Inside: patient, co-treaters, staff, consultants, supervisors, facility accepting in transfer ii) Outside: lawyers, outside therapists and or physicians, previous physicians, family, police iii) Exceptions: (1) Emergency (2) Waiver (3) Incompetence (4) Commitment (5) Statutory requirement, e.g. child abuse (6) Statutory exceptions; malpractice allegations, collections, litigation in which mental status is raised as an issue (7) Duty to Warn or Protect Third Parties (Tarasoff) 7) Privilege a) Definition: i) Patient’s right to have matters revealed to a professional held in confidence ii) Testimonial Privilege: right of patient to prevent therapist from testifying in an administrative or judicial proceeding about information revealed during the course of therapy. b) Belongs to and can only be waived by the patient c) Exceptions: same as for confidentiality d) Now exists in all federal courts: Jaffee v. Redmond 116SCt 1923 (1996) i) Established the privilege in all Federal courts ii) Extends it to social workers iii) Takes notice that there is both an important private interest in effective psychotherapy as well as a public interest of “transcendent importance” 13 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf Mental Health Experts in Employment and Medical Malpractice Litigation REFERENCES American Psychiatric Association. 1987. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders., 3d ed., Rev. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press. Freud, Sigmund. 1959. Further recommendations in the technique of psychoanalysis. In Collected Papers, vol.2, E. Jones and J. Riviere, eds. New York: Basic Books Kaplan, Harold, and Alfred Freeman. 1989. Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 5th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. The Principles of Medical Ethics with Annotations Applicable to Psychiatry. 1989. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. Phillips, Robert T.M. 1996. The Psychiatrist as Evaluator: Conflicts and Conscience. New York Law School Law Review. Vol. XLI, No.1. Schouten, Ronald. 1998. Lectures in Forensic Psychiatry. Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School Board Review Course. Boston, Massachusetts. Simon, Robert. 1990. Legal liabilities of an “impossible”profession. In American Psychiatric Press Review of Clinical Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 2, Robert I. Simon,.ed. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Press. Simon, Robert and Robert Sadoff. 1992. Psychiatric Malpractice: Cases and comments for Clinicians. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press. Simon, Robert. 1994. Treatment Boundaries in Psychiatric Practice. In Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, Richard Rosner, ed. New York, Chapman and Hall. 14 American Bar Association http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2000/phillips.pdf