People approach psychiatrists to get therapy and assistance in dealing with various emotional issues that are causing them distress. Due to the nature of the relationship, the patient and doctor often form an emotional and complex bond of reliance and trust and as a result, it can be difficult to determine when the relationship has gotten to the point that malpractice has taken place. it is an unfortunate reality that doctors often end up taking advantage of their position or acting as a poor doctor and harm their patient as a result.
Similar to other medical malpractice cases, a psychiatrist in Louisiana can be held accountable through a medical malpractice suit. In order to become successful, the victim must demonstrate that there was a patient doctor relationship, the doctor was negligent by breaching the relationship, the patient was injured either mentally or physically and that the injury and the negligence were linked.
Where some cases of negligence can be similar to surgeons or other medical professionals, such as failure to diagnose or improper treatment, psychiatric negligence could also take place if there has been an improper suicide risk assessment or there was a failure to prevent a suicide. Mental health malpractice can also be found if the doctor created false memories or failed to warn third parties about current patients as the law requires.
The instances of psychiatric negligence can be numerous, as the main requirement is the doctor’s inability to take reasonable care of the patient. If someone feels this is the case, they should consider consulting an experienced attorney and holding the medical professional accountable for their negligence.
