[Investigation of verdicts of civil suits brought against hospitals involving crimes committed by mental hospital inpatients with psychotic disorders].
The author investigated 11 verdicts of Japanese civil suits brought against hospitals involving crimes committed by mental hospital inpatients with psychotic disorders, principally by victims of injuries or by surviving relatives of homicide victims. About the half of the verdicts are based on the same logic. First, a detailed, case-specific investigation was performed. In some cases it was proven that the accidents could not have been predicted, and the suits were dismissed. In others the plaintiffs won the suits, because it was found that the violent acts were predictable and that the hospital staff had the means to prevent them. These verdicts require the hospital staff to predict the patient's actions according to the psychiatric history and present condition and then to make an appropriate response. This process is similar to the clinical decision-making process, although there have been some dubious findings in some of the court cases. However, the author also found that some verdicts were inappropriate and insufficient in that there was no individual investigation of the offender. Examining all 11 verdicts, the author found that the type of admission procedure adopted for the offender, whether they had a past history of violence, and whether the hospital was public or private did not seem to be significant to the judges in making their decisions.
Nakajima
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Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime; D006708:Homicide; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014754:Violence