Can I Sue My Psychiatrist?

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who evaluate, diagnose and treat patients who are affected by temporary or chronic mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and certain phobias. Treatment can get extremely personal, and because of this, it can be difficult to discern what is or isn’t malpractice. Just like other health care professionals, psychiatrists can make mistakes or act negligently, but when they do, it can have an immensely devastating impact on their patient. However, if medical malpractice does indeed take place, you may have the option to sue your psychiatrist and recover damages to compensation for injury, including emotional harm.

To establish a psychiatric malpractice claim, you must generally establish the following four elements:

1. A doctor-patient relationship existed
2. The doctor breached the duty of reasonable care
3. You were injured, physically or mental
4. There was a link between the negligence and injury

So what exactly constitutes medical malpractice when it comes to a psychiatrist? Well, the list below isn’t an exhaustive one, but it paints a picture of acts a psychiatrist may commit that can be considered negligent or improper:

• Engage in a sexual relationship with a patient
• Fail to conduct a proper suicide risk assessment or prevent a patient’s suicide
• Administer improper treatment or medication
• Make an improper diagnosis
• Fail to notice or diagnose a harmful condition
• Share information without patient consent
• Create false memories
• Threaten patient
• Falsify patient records

While not all errors will be considered psychiatric malpractice, things such as having sex with a patient and sharing information without consent are almost always considered malpractice. If you suspect that you have been the victim of psychiatric malpractice, please contact our Philadelphia psychiatric malpractice attorneys at Golomb & Honik, P.C. today.