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Although psychiatry is one of the least-often sued medical specialties (Studdert et al. 2016), patient death from suicide or suicide attempt is one of the two most frequent identifiable causes of loss in lawsuits and claims (demands for money outside of litigation) filed against psychiatrists. Psychopharmacology errors, the other most frequent cause of loss, only recently surpassed suicide as the most identifiable cause. The most frequent allegation in lawsuits and claims against psychiatrists is “incorrect treatment”; attorneys will use this broad allegation in initial pleadings and then develop more specific allegations of wrongdoing by the psychiatrist as the malpractice case develops (Table 27–1). Therefore, cases involving both suicide and psychopharmacology can also be found in the “incorrect treatment” category.
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