The clinical aspects of pain and psychiatric consequences have occupied my attention for many years. As a psychiatrist I was Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedics at University of California San Francisco Medical School for 15 years. I focused my work in that Department on the assessment and treatment of chronic pain and psychopathology. The mind-body…
Mental and emotional injuries in employment litigation are damages usually sought by plaintiffs. These damages are generally subsumed under the category of “emotional distress” by which is included mental suffering, mental anguish, or mental or nervous shock as well as “all highly unpleasant mental reactions such as fright, horror, grief, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, anger, chagrin,…
“Dangerousness” has three constituents: the assessment of risk (“risk factors”), the type of violence being predicted (“harm”) and the likelihood harm will occur (“risk”). (Violence and Mental Disorder. Monahan and Steadman. Univ. of Chicago Press. 1994). Dangerousness at the workplace takes many forms. I will be using the workplace as an example of one setting…
Toronto Star, “Is Russell Williams Still Grasping for Control?” By Jim Rankin, April 18, 2010 [Background: Col. Russell Williams in the Canadian Forces and a former Base Commander was convicted in a string of murders, rapes, breaking and entering, forcible confinement and sexual assault, following a history of escalating violent behavior. At the time the…
As a forensic psychiatrist I have worked on many fascinating cases. Following are studies of a few cases in which I have testified and forensic issues requiring a Psychiatrist. In most instances, details are changed to preserve confidentiality.
Discharge is considered wrongful when it occurs as a breach of public policy. The public policy is expressed in the statutes of various (but not all) states, some state constitutions, and policies which forbid retaliation against an employee who has acted in a way the public would encourage, or not acting in a way the…
Toxic exposure to certain substances is one of the causes of dementia. Please refer to my discussion of Traumatic Brain Injury and Other Dementias which touch on many of the same issues as dementia as a result of Toxic Exposure.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services estimates 1 out of 7 females is sexually molested at some time in their lives. In general, the younger the person’s age at the time of molestation, the greater the damage. Sometimes, the damage is repressed, that is, the person puts it out of awareness but always remembers it….
As a forensic consultant, I have frequently been asked to review medical records of an individual who is involved in, or the subject of, a lawsuit and to provide consultation to attorneys as to what I find in the medical records that is relevant to the plaintiff’s alleged injury. Medical records in a case of…
Insanity is a legal concept, not a medical diagnosis. Historically, the Sharia, in Moslem law, may be the earliest example of a lesser punishment of a person who commits a homicide while in an altered mental state. Both children and “lunatics” are considered unable to intend to kill another and so a homicide by either…