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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

The psychiatrist’s legal liability in the event of a patient’s suicide

Legal liability of psychiatrist in case of patient's suicide

A psychiatrist’s professional responsibility should be assessed prospectively, on the basis of information reasonably available at the time of the decision, rather than retrospectively on the basis of the fact that the patient died by suicide.

This talk examines psychiatrists’ responsibility in the event of a patient’s suicide from both clinical and legal perspectives. The complexity of this issue stems from the distinctive characteristics of psychiatric practice and, in particular, the limitations of current methods for predicting suicidal behavior and assessing suicide risk. The aim of the talk is to demonstrate that, regardless of the legal system in which a psychiatrist practices, their professional responsibility should not be assessed retrospectively solely on the basis of the fact that a patient died by suicide; such an approach carries a risk of hindsight bias. Instead, the clinical decision-making process should be assessed prospectively (ex ante), on the basis of information that was reasonably available at the time and that should have been obtained through appropriate clinical diligence in accordance with current medical knowledge. A psychiatrist cannot guarantee a particular treatment outcome or a patient’s absolute safety; the professional obligation is to provide care consistent with current medical knowledge and the applicable standard of care, and to appropriately identify, assess, document, and respond to reasonably identifiable suicide risk. The talk also discusses two court decisions illustrating how courts approach suicide risk assessment, foreseeability, the standard of care, and professional responsibility.

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