'Where the public peril begins': 25 years after tarasoff

Journal of Legal Medicine

Volumn 21, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 187-222

  Buckner, Fillmore ^a   Firestone, Marvin ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CONFIDENTIALITY; INFORMED CONSENT; LEGAL LIABILITY; MEDICAL PRACTICE; PATIENT RIGHT; PSYCHIATRY; PSYCHOTHERAPIST;

EID: 0033935937     PISSN: 01947648     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01947640050074698     Document Type: Article

References (148)

1. 1 Tarasoff v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 118 Cal. Rptr. 129 (Cal. 1974) (Tarasoff I), modified by Tarasoff v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 551 P.2d 334 (Cal. 1976) (Tarasoff II).
2. 2 403 A.2d 500 (N.J. 1979).
3. 3 John G. Fleming & Bruce Maximov, The Patient or His Victim: The Therapist's Dilemma, 62 CAL. L. REV. 1025 (1974).
4. 4 Tarasoff v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 108 Cal. Rptr. 878 (Cal. App. 1973).
5. 5 Tarasoff I, 118 Cal. Rptr. at 129.
6. 6 322 F. Supp. 745 (E.D. Pa. 1971).
7. 7 Fleming & Maximov, supra note 3, at 1030.
8. 8 104 Cal. Rptr. 505 (Cal. 1972).
9. 9 384 U.S. 436 (1965).
10. 10 Fleming & Maximov, supra note 3, at 1060.
11. 11 Id. at 1067.
12. 12 477 P.2d 352 (Cal. 1968).
13. 13 Id. at 355.
14. 14 Id. at 363.
15. 15 535 P.2d 352 (Cal. 1975).
16. 16 Id. at 359.
17. 17 Stone indicates that Poddar was studying marine architecture. None of the case sources indicate his course of study. Alan Stone, The Tarasoff Decisions: Suing Psychotherapists to Safeguard Society, 90 HARV. L. REV. 358 (1976).
18. 18 People v. Poddar, 518 P.2d 342, 344 (Cal. 1974) (Poddar II).
19. 19 Id.
20. 20 Id.
21. 21 People v. Poddar, 103 Cal. Rptr. 84, 86 (Cal. App. 1972) (Poddar I).
22. 22 Poddar II, 518 P.2d at 344.
23. 23 Tarasoff, 108 Cal. Rptr. at 880.
24. 24 Id.
25. 25 Id.
26. 26 Id.
27. 27 Although the cases do not readily reveal it, another source indicates that, shortly after his release, Poddar persuaded Tanya's brother, who was unaware of the risk Poddar posed, to share an apartment with him near Tanya's residence. Allen Wilkinson, Psychiatric Malpractice: Identifying Areas of Liability, TRIAL, Oct. 1982, at 74.
28. 28 Poddar I, 103 Cal. Rptr. at 86.
29. 29 Poddar II, 518 P.2d at 345.
30. 30 Tarasoff I, 118 Cal. Rptr. at 135.
31. 31 He stabbed her 17 times into the lung, kidney, and liver. Poddar I, 103 Cal. Rptr. at 91.
32. 32 Poddar II, 518 P.2d at 345.
33. 33 Poddar I, 103 Cal. Rptr. at 86.
34. 34 Poddar II, 518 P.2d at 348.
35. 35 Id. at 344.
36. 36 Id. at 348.
37. 37 Id. n.13.
38. 38 Poddar I, 103 Cal. Rptr. at 93.
39. 39 Id.
40. 40 Poddar II, 518 P.2d at 350.
41. 41 Vanessa Merton, Confidentiality and the "Dangerous" Patient: Implications of Tarasoff for Psychiatrists and Lawyers, 31 EMORY L. J. 263 (1982).
42. 42 Tarasoff, 108 Cal. Rptr. at 881.
43. 43 Id. at 880.
44. 44 Id. at 881-86.
45. 45 Id. at 886.
46. 46 Id. at 887.
47. 47 Tarasoff II, 551 P.2d at 334.
48. 48 Tarasoff I, 118 Cal. Rptr. at 129.
49. 49 Tarasoff II, 551 P.2d at 345.
50. 50 Tarasoff I, 118 Cal. Rptr. at 131.
51. 51 Tarasoff II, 551 P.2d at 351.
52. 52 Id. at 352.
53. 53 WILLIAM L. PROSSER, THE LAW OF TORTS (3d ed. 1967 & 4th ed. 1971).
54. 54 RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS (1965).
55. 55 Tarasoff II, 551 P.2d at 345.
56. 56 Id. at 347.
57. 57 Id. at 350.
58. 58 The case never actually went to trial, but was settled on terms "within the range for wrongful death of a college girl" on July 1, 1977, one year to the day after the second Tarasoff decision. Merton, supra note 41.
59. 59 Tarasoff II, 55 1 P.2d at 354.
60. 60 Id.
61. 61 Id. at 361.
62. 62 Id. at 362.
63. 63 497 F. Supp. 185 (D. Neb. 1980).
64. 64 See, e.g., Hedlund v. Superior Court of Orange County, 669 P.2d 41 (Cal. 1983).
65. 65 712 F.2d 391 (9th Cir. 1983).
66. 66 499 A.2d 422 (Vt. 1985).
67. 67 570 F. Supp. 1333 (D. Colo. 1983).
68. 68 327 N.W.2d 759 (Iowa 1982).
69. 69 541 F. Supp. 999 (D. Md. 1982).
70. 70 539 A.2d 1064 (Del. 1988).
71. 71 335 N.W.2d 481 (Mich. App. 1983).
72. 73 455 S.E.2d 502 (Va. 1995).
73. 71 Hokenson v. United States, 868 F.2d 372 (10th Cir. 1989).
74. 74 Matt v. Burrell, 892 S.W.2d 796 (Mo. App. 1995).
75. 75 Burchfield v. United States, 750 F. Supp. 1312 (S.D. Miss. 1990).
76. 76 King v. Durham County Mental Health and Devel. Disabilities and Substance Abuse Auth., 439 S.E.2d 771 (N.C. App. 1994).
77. 77 491 N.W.2d 508 (Iowa 1992).
78. 78 625 A.2d 1228 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1993).
79. 79 398 P.2d 14 (Wash. 1965).
80. 80 Id. at 15.
81. 81 See Freese v. Lemon, 210 N.W.2d 576 (Iowa 1973).
82. 82 See Watkins v. United States, 589 F.2d 214 (5th Cir. 1979); Davis v. Mangelsdorf, 673 P.2d 951 (Ariz. App. 1983); Meyers v. Quesenberry, 193 Cal. Rptr. 733 (Cal. App. 1983); Joy v. Eastern Maine Medical Center, 529 A.2d 1364 (Me. 1987); Welke v. Kuzilla, 375 N.W.2d 403 (Mich. App. 1985); Wharton Transport v. Bridges, 606 S.W.2d 521 (Tenn. 1980); Gooden v. Tips, 651 S.W.2d 364 (Tex. App. 1983).
83. 83 Gooden, 651 S.W.2d at 364. In the case of Praesel v. Johnson, 967 S.W.2d 391 (Tex. 1998), the validity of the court's ruling in Gooden was substantially undermined. Nevertheless, other state courts have relied on Gooden in establishing common law.
84. 84 Gooden, 651 S.W.2d at 370.
85. 85 671 P.2d 230 (Wash. 1983).
86. 86 Larry Knox also was a convicted burglar who was on probation at the time of his hospital admission. A condition of his probation was that he refrain from using controlled substances. Knox's treating psychiatrist was well aware of his continued use of controlled substances, Id. at 234-35.
87. 87 Subsequent to the accident, Knox killed Mr. and Mrs. Hibberd and raped their daughter. The trial court allowed this information to be introduced as rebuttal to the treating psychiatrist's testimony. Id. at 243.
88. 88 Id. at 236.
89. 89 497 F. Supp. 197 (D. Neb. 1980).
90. 90 781 P.2d 498 (Wash. App. 1989).
91. 91 808 P.2d 758 (Wash. App. 1991).
92. 92 841 P.2d 1254 (Wash. App. 1992).
93. 94 717 P.2d 140 (Or. 1986).
94. 94 See Roderick Pettis, Tarasoff and the Dangerous Driver: A Look at the Driving Cases, 20 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 427, 429 (1992); Roderick Pettis & Thomas Gutheil, Missapplication of the Tarasoff Duty to Driving Cases: A Call for Reframing the Theory, 21 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 263, 271 (1993).
95. 94 See Roderick Pettis, Tarasoff and the Dangerous Driver: A Look at the Driving Cases, 20 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 427, 429 (1992); Roderick Pettis & Thomas Gutheil, Missapplication of the Tarasoff Duty to Driving Cases: A Call for Reframing the Theory, 21 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 263, 271 (1993).
96. 95 Cain, 717 P.2d at 147.
97. 96 424 N.W.2d 159 (Wis. 1988).
98. 97 Id. at 164.
99. 98 Id. at 175.
100. 99 192 Cal. Rptr. 583 (Cal. App. 1983), republished, 193 Cal. Rptr. 733 (Cal. App. 1983).
101. 100 Myers, 193 Cal. Rptr. at 735.
102. 101 741 P.2d 1090 (Wyo. 1987).
103. 102 See Kenneth Labowitz, Beyond Tarasoff: AIDS and the Obligation to Breach Confidentiality, 9 ST. LOUIS U. PUB. L. REV. 495 (1990).
104. 103 37 Cal. Rptr. 2d 518 (Cal. App. 1995).
105. 104 583 A.2d 422, 424 (Pa. 1990).
106. 105 Reisner, 37 Cal. Rptr. 2d at 523.
107. 106 854 S.W.2d 865 (Tenn. 1993).
108. 107 Id. at 872.
109. 108 677 A.2d 1188 (N. J. Super. 1996). Cf. Pate v. Threkel, 640 So. 2d 183 (Fla. App. 1994) (declining to find a duty to warn a child of a genetically transferable disease; because the Florida Supreme Court did not publish its decision and Tarasoff was not followed by the court of appeals, it is not discussed here).
110. 109 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928).
111. 110 Alan Stone, The Tarasoff Decisions: Suing Psychotherapists to Safeguard Society, 90 HARV. L. REV. 358 (1976).
112. 111 Paul Appelbaum et al., Statutory Approaches to Limiting Psychiatrists' Liability for Their Patients' Violent Acts, 146 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 821 (1989).
113. 112 Id. at 827-28.
114. 113 CAL. CIV. CODE § 43, 92.13 (1985).
115. 114 ALAN STONE, LAW, PSYCHIATRY AND MORALITY: ESSAYS AND ANALYSIS 181 (1984).
116. 115 Brady v. Hopper, 751 F.2d 329 (10th Cir. 1984).
117. 116 Lipari v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 497 F. Supp. 185 (D. Neb. 1980).
118. 117 Alan Felthous, Duty to Warn or Protect: Current Status for Psychiatrists, 21 PSYCHIATRIC ANNALS 591 (1991).
119. 118 Paul Appelbaum, The Expansion of Liability for Patients' Violent Acts, 35 HOSP. COMM. PSYCHIATRY 13 (1984).
120. 119 Appelbaum et al., supra note 111, at 826.
121. 120 Jerome Beigler, Tarasoff v. Confidentiality, 2 BEHAV. SCI. & L. 273 (1984). But see Thapar v. Zezulka, 994 S.W.2d 635 (Tex. 1999) (holding no duty to warn where Texas Health and Safety Code mandates confidentiality).
122. 121 ROBERT SIMON, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY AND THE LAW xxiv (1987).
123. 122 Id. at xxv.
124. 123 PAUL APPLEBAUM, Implications of Tarasoff for Clinical Practice, in THE POTENTIALLY VIOLENT PATIENT AND THE TARASOFF DECISION IN PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE 94-106 (James Beck ed. 1985).
125. 124 Toni Wise, Where the Public Peril Begins: A Survey of Psychotherapists to Determine the Effects of Tarasoff, 31 STAN. L. REV. 165 (1978).
126. 125 Loren Roth & Alan Meisel, Dangerousness, Confidentiality, and the Duty to Warn, 134 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 508 (1977).
127. 126 Dale McNiel & Renee Binder, Violence, Civil Committment, and Hospitalisation, 174 J. NERV. & MENTAL Dis. 107 (1986).
128. 127 Renee Binder & Dale McNiel, Application of the Tarasoff Ruling and Its Effect on the Victim and the Therapeutic Relationship, 47 PSYCHIATRIC SERV. 1212 (1996).
129. 128 Daniel Givelber et al., Tarasoff, Myth and Reality: An Empirical Study of Private Law in Action, 1984 WIS. L. REV. 443.
130. 129 Id. at 443.
131. 130 John Monahun, Mental Disorder and Violent Behavior: Perceptions and Evidence, 47 AM. PSYCHOLOGIST 511 (1992).
132. 131 Wise, supra note 124.
133. 132 David Rosenhan et al., Warning Third Parties: The Ripple Effects of Tarasoff, 24 PAC. L.J. 1165 (1993).
134. 133 James Beck, When the Patient Threatens Violence: An Empirical Study of Clinical Practices After Tarasoff, 10 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 189 (1982).
135. 134 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128; Rosenhan et al., supra note 132.
136. 134 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128; Rosenhan et al., supra note 132.
137. 134 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128; Rosenhan et al., supra note 132.
138. 135 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128.
139. 135 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128.
140. 136 Beck, supra note 133; James Beck, Violent Patients and the Tarasoff Duty in Private Psychiatric Practice, 13 J. PSYCH. & L. 361 (1985); Binder & McNiel, supra note 127; Dale McNiel et al., Management of Threats of Violence Under California's Duty to Protect Statute, 155 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1097 (1998).
141. 135 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128. 136 Beck, supra note 133; James Beck, Violent Patients and the Tarasoff Duty in Private Psychiatric Practice, 13 J. PSYCH. & L. 361 (1985); Binder & McNiel, supra note 127; Dale McNiel et al., Management of Threats of Violence Under California's Duty to Protect Statute, 155 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1097 (1998).
142. 135 Wise, supra note 124; Givelber et al., supra note 128. 136 Beck, supra note 133; James Beck, Violent Patients and the Tarasoff Duty in Private Psychiatric Practice, 13 J. PSYCH. & L. 361 (1985); Binder & McNiel, supra note 127; Dale McNiel et al., Management of Threats of Violence Under California's Duty to Protect Statute, 155 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1097 (1998).
143. 137 Paul Appelbaum, The New Preventive Detention: Psychiatry's Problematic Responsibility for the Control of Violence, 145 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 779 (1988).
144. 138 R. Little & E. Strecker, Moot Questions in Psychiatric Ethics, 113 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 455 (1956).
145. 139 KARL MENNINGER, A MANUAL FOR PSYCHIATRIC CASE STUDY 40 (1952); SEYMOUR HALLECK, LAW IN THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHIATRY: A HANDBOOK FOR CLINICIANS 76-77 (1980).
146. 139 KARL MENNINGER, A MANUAL FOR PSYCHIATRIC CASE STUDY 40 (1952); SEYMOUR HALLECK, LAW IN THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHIATRY: A HANDBOOK FOR CLINICIANS 76-77 (1980).
147. 140 Beck, supra note 133.
148. 141 Thomas Rudegeair & Paul Appelbaum, On the Duty to Protect: An Evolutionary Perspective, 20 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 419 (1992).