The second U. S. Court of Appeals ruled in September, 2. United. Healthcare) can be sued for allegedly illegally restricting plan members' access to residential and outpatient treatment. Chicken Games Free Download 48.

The ruling allows such allegations to be pursued as class actions in addition to individual lawsuits, the latter being prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of patients and their families. Plan members had sued United.

Healthcare and United Behavioral Health (a subsidiary) under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), for creating and promulgating defective and overly restrictive acceptance (read . United Behavioral Health is the largest mental health care insurer in the United States, with plans that cover over 6.

There's a complete article about the decision in Modern Healthcare at http: //www. NEWS/1. 60. 92. 99. Return to Current Table of Contents. Treatment of Psychopathy and Antisocial Syndromes. Some colleagues and I recently completed a book chapter on the treatment of severe antisocial syndromes (including antisocial personality and psychopathy). It's not my first rodeo (as we say here in Texas).

Download TV Shows MEGA x265 and Yify Movies. Forensic Psychiatry & Expert Witness Information/Services for Legal & Mental Health Professionals.

Treblinka (pronounced . It was located in a. Search settings; Web History : Advanced search Language tools. Google is stepping up its effort to block phishing attempts that use app permissions to gain access to users’ Gmail accounts. These phishing attacks invite users to.

I've written about psychopaths, asocial people, and those whom courts and the press call the . I've evaluated a great many, treated some, and overseen the treatment of scores, maybe hundreds. The treatment field for these people and their disorders has some promising features, even though the general picture is usually considered bleak. The end of our chapter remembers a great and kind man whose call should be heard widely and often among mental health professionals, particularly those who work in correctional settings and forensic hospitals: Many years ago, I met with Dr. Knowing that his decades of work “treating the untreatable” were over and he was losing his international forum of advocacy, he said to me, . They have no one, yet they are people.

They are desperately lacking and in terrible pain. Those who understand this are so rare; you must not turn your back on them. Return to Current Table of Contents. Assessing Social Security Payee Competency. Dr. Mark Amdur recently published a useful group of . Amdur's brief article refers mainly to treating physicians, such as psychiatrists and primary care doctors, who deal with such questions (on form SSA- 7. Social Security disability evaluation, but the principles often apply to independent medical examinations (IMEs) by psychiatrists and psychologists, and to other kinds and sources of payments.

He lists a number of situations under which a separate payee may be required (and should be considered). They include clinical ones such as dementia, intellectual limitation, other brain deficits, manic spending, depressive withdrawal, psychosis, and substance abuse, as well as behavioral problems often associated with financial incompetence (chronic serious debt or bankruptcy, gambling, homelessness, failure to cash checks, severe hoarding, etc.)Patients/evaluees whose competency is questioned often become demanding, even belligerent.

Confrontations about payeeship and money in general can be difficult, even violent. More than one family member has been injured (even killed) by a paranoid or otherwise- incensed patient demanding . Amdur notes that when he considers recommending a third- party payee, he often suggests a three- month trial in which the patient/beneficiary receives his/her own payments but is monitored by family or some other caregiver. If all goes well during that time, he is comfortable signing the SSA- 7. Today's doctor- patient relationships encourage autonomy, but clinicians and evaluators should not be reluctant to explore – and recommend when appropriate – alternative payeeship when it is clearly in the patient's/evaluee's interest.

Current Psychiatry 1. Lots of professional organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, recognize the utility of email, but specify that it must be used properly. A recent article by Drs.

Annette Reynolds and Douglas Mossman provides helpful guidance. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals should already know to be cautious with patient- related email and texting, but patients themselves often initiate risky email communication, sending doctors and therapists detailed, confidential, or time- sensitive information in the unwarranted belief that their email will only be seen by the clinician, and will be read at once. When one receives such messages, it's a good idea to respond generically that such topics will not be discussed or considered by email or text, highlight the confidentiality risks (and others; see below), and require a telephone or face- to- face interaction in order to proceed. First, the security issues.

Neither the clinician nor the patient knows who may have access to unencrypted email. One may be not be communicating with the patient at all, but with a family member or friend using his computer. Server operators can – but usually don't – intercept and read messages. At the clinician's end, unless precautions are taken, emails may be opened and read by office staff and others.

And we all know about illegally . At the least, clinicians should have a dedicated professional email account that is not combined with other uses. Better: use an encryption method and educate your patients in its use. Get patients' explicit (written is best) consent before using email communication. That consent should, among other things, notify the patient of the security risks, discuss expected reading and response times, outline what is and is not appropriate for both subject lines and the body of messages, and disclose who has known access to your email account.

Let patients know that they must not rely on email for things like urgent matters and sensitive or confidential topics. Anything that requires multiple email exchanges should probably be addressed in person or by phone. Reading and response time is a big deal. Both doctors and patients must understand that there is no assurance that an email will be promptly read and dealt with. Finally, remember that email or text communication creates the same clinician duties and responsibilities as does any other form of communication. Answering clinically- related emails from a non- patient may inadvertently create a new doctor- patient relationship, with all its attendant duties.

Information given, responses considered, and decisions made on the basis of email communication must comply with clinical standards of care. Read the article for yourself; it's shorter than the page numbers imply. Before you hit ? Current Psychiatry 1. In my malpractice cases that involve suicide – the majority of such cases and the number one malpractice cause of action against psychiatrists and psychiatric hospitals – ECT, one of the fastest, best and safest treatments, has rarely been adequately considered. The psychiatric literature is currently touting ketamine treatment for major depressive episodes. In spite of lack of proof of lasting benefit, and being fraught with potential for adverse effects, some authors want to place a ketamine trial before ECT in treatment algorythms.

Other authorities – cooler heads, in my view – don't recommend that (see, e. Schatberg AF . A word to the wise about ketamine. Am J Psychiatry 1.

Kellner and others, experts in ECT, succinctly outline the fact that ECT is a proven, standard treatment; ketamine is not (Kellner et al. Am J Psychiatry 1. Failure to adequately consider ECT in acute, potentially suicidal depression is routinely below the standard of care. This treatment saves lives, and an ECT consultation goes a long way toward showing that the treating clinician has exercised good judgment in patient care and risk mitigation. Return to Current Table of Contents.

Assessing Risk of Violence: Don't Be DISTURBED I recently read an article that brought up an old, but continuing, problem inherent in acronym- based checklists for assessing violence risk (or risk of suicide for that matter).