When it comes to choosing a forensic psychiatric expert, it’s important to select someone who has the right qualifications and experience. This type of expert is typically called upon to provide psychological or psychiatric evaluations, testimony, and reports in legal proceedings, including criminal and civil cases. Here are some key factors to consider when selecting […]
Opioids refers to the universe of opioid-type medications. Opiates refer to the naturally occurring analogues (e.g. Opioid, morphine, and codeine). Opioids include the naturally occurring analogues as well as synthetics such as fentanyl. Opioids are medically indicated for short-term acute pain. Post surgical or acute injury Opioids have limited medical indication for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain […]
Is Off-Label Prescribing Malpractice? By Dr. Steven H. Berger, MD fpamed Forensic Psychiatrist Off-label prescribing is malpractice if (1) the prescription does not comply with the standard of care and (2) the prescription causes harm. The standard of care is unique for each patient’s situation. A prescription being on-label or off-label is irrelevant to the […]
The insanity defense is a traditional affirmative defense that dates back to biblical times with more relevant application dating back to English common law. Simply defined, the insanity defense determines whether a defendant is capable of being held criminally responsible for his or her actions. How sanity is more specifically defined differs between states and in Clark v. Arizona, 548 […]
Just because we’re housebound, doesn’t mean we’ve stopped working. January 18,2023 Post-Pandemic Update: This article was originally written early in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Since May 5, 2020, much has changed. Many temporary and experimental adaptations to restrictions imposed by the pandemic have become normalized and adopted by lawyers, the courts as well as by forensic […]
Psychological and neurocognitive assessment can provide empirical data that can be very valuable to the trier of fact in determining the presence, severity, and absence of psychological and neurocognitive damages in children and adolescents. Testing provided by psychologists who are highly trained and experienced with forensic assessment can be extremely helpful for plaintiff and defense […]
The Team Approach to Forensic Psychiatric Assessment in Mass Tort or Multi-Plaintiff Complex Litigation There are key advantages to employing a “Single Team Approach” to assessing emotional damages claims in a mass tort population. Whether part of a class action, consolidated individual claims, multi-district litigation, or another procedure, a large population of claimants seeking emotional […]
A passenger vehicle is rear-ended by a commercial vehicle traveling at 30 mph on a state road. The driver of the passenger vehicle is seat belted. The airbags deployed, and the vehicle suffered moderate rear end damage. Ambulance personnel note that the driver exited the vehicle without assistance, is awake, standing by the roadside and talking […]
Many attorneys, when working on a case in which the mental health status of one of the parties is a significant issue, consider relying solely on a treating psychiatrist to serve as an independent expert psychiatric witness. Engaging the treating psychiatrist may seem efficient, cost-effective, and simply seeking expertise from the professional who knows the individual […]
This is a slide show presentation and subsequent webinar presented to NARTC by David Kan, M.D., D.F.A.S.A.M., a Diplomate Am. Bd. Psychiatry & Neurology in Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Associate Clinical Professor Psychiatry, UCSF School of Medicine, an original member of Forensic Psychiatric Associates, LP and current President of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. Click […]
1. Authentic PTSD can, and usually does, produce severe disability of a person’s psychological functioning: It is important to remember that “impairment of psychosocial functioning” is a sine qua non for every psychiatric diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5 ). Thus, although genuine PTSD is usually severely disabling, in the absence of marked […]