Forensic Psychiatric Associates, LP
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Can neuroscience help us eradicate psychopathy?
/in NeuroscienceOctavio Choi, MD, PhD interviewed on the Pat Thurston show. Click the read more link below to listen to the recorded show.
Emotional & Psychological Claims in Multi-Plaintiff Toxic Tort Litigation
/in Multi-Plaintiff Litigation, WebinarsMark I. Levy, MD, DLFAPA and Howard J. Friedman, PhD, ABPP join a panel to discuss what attorneys need to know about the scientific and medical aspects of these injuries.
Armed and Misogynist: How Toxic Masculinity Fuels Mass Shootings
/in Gun Control, ViolenceJohn M. Fabian, PsyD, JD, ABPP interviewed on the Pat Thurston show. Click the read more link below to listen to the recorded show.
fMRI in the Courtroom: A (Very Brief) Overview
/in Articles, Publications & QuotesOn the evening of May 9, 1991, a postdoctoral fellow named Kenneth Kwong ran a new MRI sequence at Massachusetts General Hospital and, remarkably, “saw a bright blob coming out of the visual cortex” (1). This experiment—the first to use blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a human subject—led to a […]
Effects of temporary psychiatric holds on length of stay and readmission risk among persons admitted for psychotic disorders
/in Articles, Publications & Quotes, PsychosisThe practice of involuntary psychiatric commitment is central to the acute treatment of persons with severe mental illness and others in psychiatric crisis. Deciding whether a patient should be admitted involuntarily requires weighing respect for autonomy against beneficence, considering the clinical needs of the patient, and navigating ambiguous legal standards. The relative dearth of information […]
Growing and Managing Expert Witness Practice with Mark Levy, MD and Charles Saldanha, MD
/in Video, ExpertsOn November 11th, 2020, we were joined by Mark Levy, MD and Charles Saldanha, MD, members of Experts.com since 2005, for a really informative discussion on growing and managing your forensic #expertwitness practice. Doctors Levy and Saldanha started Forensic Psychiatric Associates, LP, in 2005. Dr. Levy had been a solo practitioner of clinical and forensic psychiatry for many years before he and Dr. Saldanha decided to partner and build a nationwide forensic #psychiatry and #psychology practice.
The Neuroscience of Real Life Monsters: Psychopaths, CEOs, & Politicians
/in Interviews, Neuroscience, Psychopathy, VideoWhy do some people live lawful lives, while others gravitate toward repeated criminal behavior? Do people choose to be moral or immoral, or is morality simply a genetically inherited function of the brain? Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Octavio Choi explores how emerging neuroscience challenges long-held assumptions underlying the basis—and punishment—of criminal behavior.
Off-Label Prescribing & Malpractice
/in Standard of Care, Psychiatric, NewslettersIs 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 […]
A Case of Biopharmaceutical-Induced Catatonia and the Implication of a Novel Mechanism
/in Articles, Publications & QuotesCatatonia can be described structurally as a motor dysregulation syndrome with a concomitant behavioral component. However, despite its initial recognition nearly 150 years ago, the exact pathophysiological causes underlying this syndrome are still somewhat unknown and are potentially variable. This report reviews a case of a patient with multiple catatonic episodes precipitated by the use […]
Risk of suicide after discharge from inpatient psychiatric care: a systematic review
/in Articles, Publications & Quotes, SuicideThe findings of this review suggest that significant suicide predictors both common and unique to those established for suicide in the general population exist and can be utilised in a clinically meaningful way, despite the difficulties inherent in studying this population.KEY POINTSThe risk of suicide after psychiatric hospitalisation is high.Factors that predict suicide after psychiatric […]
Telepsychiatry Standards & Practices – Understanding & Mitigating Liability Risks
/in Telepsychiatry, WebinarsTelemedicine and telepsychiatry have been used routinely for the past decade, but during the COVID-19 pandemic these services are needed more than ever. Telepsychiatry is being used in sub-practices including addiction counseling. Some physicians are not aware of potential missteps and are opening themselves up to liability claims.
Sanity Evaluations: The relationship between the mental state and the criminal behavior.
/in Newsletters, Criminal Law & Mental IllnessThe 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 […]
Pseudologia Fantastica: An Elaborate Tale of Combat-related PTSD
/in Articles, Publications & Quotes, Posttraumatic Stress DisorderPseudologia fantastica (PF), also known as mythomania or pathologic lying, is a well-known yet controversial phenomenon in psychiatry. There is no firm conceptualization of PF, nor are there any widely accepted diagnostic criteria for PF. The condition may be related to low self-esteem, and it shows some overlap with narcissistic personality disorder and other Diagnostic […]
Virtual Forensic Psychiatric Practice: A Lawyer’s Guide
/in NewslettersJust 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 […]
Video: The Criminal Brain
/in Neuroscience, Neuropsychiatry, VideoWhy do some people live lawful lives, while others gravitate toward repeated criminality? Do people choose to be moral or immoral, or is morality simply a genetically inherited function of the brain, like mathematical ability? Research suggests certain regions of the brain influence moral reasoning. Dr. Octavio Choi explores how emerging neuroscience challenges long-held assumptions underlying the basis—and punishment—of criminal behavior.
Video: Dr. Octavio Choi presents Brain Basics: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
/in Neuropsychiatry, Neuroscience, VideoNeuroscientific evidence is increasingly being encountered in the United States criminal justice system. This session will provide a concise and readily accessible introduction to human brain structure, brain function, and how structure and function are studied through modern neuroimaging techniques.
Psychological and Neuropsychological Assessment of Children and Adolescents
/in NewslettersPsychological 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 […]
Indications for Psychotherapy in Adults in Later Life
/in Articles, Publications & Quotes, PsychotherapySince its inception more than 100 years ago, theories and techniques of psychotherapy have experienced tremendous growth and diversification. There has been a gradual increase in our knowledge of aging as well as in our experience conducting psychotherapy with older adults. Although the core principles of psychotherapy are mostly similar to those pertaining to younger […]
Video: Can Neuroscience help us eradicate psychopathy? Octavio Choi – TEDx Talk, Portland State University
/in Video, Forensic Psychiatry, Neurocognition, PsychopathyDr. Choi digs into the psychopaths brain, literally. He examines how their brain reacts and thinks compared to an average brain, hoping that we do our part to guide the psychopaths to a better life.
What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Answer | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
/in AAPL (American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law), Articles, Publications & Quotes, Forensic Psychiatry, Neurocognition, Neuroscience, PsychopathyWe truly live in the golden age of neuroscience. Advances in technology over the past 20 years have given modern neuro-researchers tools of unprecedented power to probe the workings of the most complex machine in the universe (as far as we know).
HB Webinar: PTSD in Mass Tort & Multi-Plaintiff Litigation
/in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Mass Torts, WebinarsWatch the FREE video recording of this webinar. Everything You Need to Know About Assessing PTSD Claims In Mass Tort Litigation: The “Team” Approach. Get up to speed on the medical and scientific aspects of PTSD in mass tort and multi-claimant cases. With Mark I. Levy, MD, DLFAPA and Sarah A. Hall, PhD.
PTSD Claims Brought by Facebook’s ‘Graphic Content’ Reviewers Goes to ADR, Putting Civil Action on Pause
/in Posttraumatic Stress DisorderFacebook can be great fun. How else would I have seen a video of an eight-year-old drummer-girl utterly thrashing Led Zeppelin’s Good Times Bad Times? Or a dog running away with a lit skyrocket as his human friends run, duck and ditch for their lives? Or what your cat looks like in a tuxedo?
Check out the upcoming HB Webinar
HB Webinar: The Opioid Addiction Story – What Tort Attorneys Should Know About Opiates & How This Epidemic Came to Be
/in Addiction, Opioids, WebinarsAs opioid addiction continues to claim lives and litigation continues to expand, attorneys who may have potential clients – as plaintiffs or defendants – will benefit from this 95-minute session with Dr. David Kan, who has been retained by plaintiffs in the opioid MDL in Ohio.
Mass Tort Litigation
/in Mass Torts, NewslettersThe 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 […]
Current Regulation of Mobile Mental Health Applications
/in News, Articles, Publications & QuotesJames A. Armontrout, MD, John Torous, MD, Marsha Cohen, JD, Dale E. McNiel, PhD, and Renée Binder, MD — The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law — In recent years, the availability of software that is targeted toward the general public and designed to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of […]