All Georgia health care practitioners are held to a high standard of care Unfortunately, some do not live up to their responsibilities. Psychiatric malpractice can happen. If you believe you’ve been a victim, there are signs of which to be aware.
Understanding psychiatric malpractice
Usually, when people hear the term “medical malpractice,” they automatically think of primary care doctors or surgeons. However, psychiatric malpractice can occur when a psychiatrist has made a mistake or acted negligently in caring for a patient.
Typically, psychiatric malpractice is more difficult to prove than other types of malpractice. This is because the victim’s claims are often questioned due to their mental health. Victims are usually vulnerable and thus not always taken seriously.
Signs of psychiatric malpractice
There are different types of psychiatric malpractice that carry different signs. Abuse of power is one that involves a number of signs. It occurs when the doctor shares the patient’s information without their consent, sexually abuses or has a sexual relationship with the patient, threatens or abuses the patient or abandons them.
Another form of psychiatric malpractice takes place when the psychiatrist takes advantage of the patient’s fragile mental state and instills false memories in them. This can be very damaging when those false memories involve some kind of abuse at the hands of someone close to the victim. For example, a doctor hypnotizes a patient into believing her father molested her when she was a child.
Being prescribed the wrong medication or the patient not being prescribed one they need at all are other signs of psychiatric malpractice. However, perhaps the worst form of malpractice is when a psychiatrist fails to prevent a patient’s suicide while knowing that person was suicidal.