title: Dangerous patients and duties to warn: a European human rights perspective.
abstract: The recent case of David Bradley, who shot and killed four members of his family after telling his doctor he 'wanted to kill someone', has raised the question of whether a healthcare professional could ever be held liable for failing to take steps to constrain a potentially dangerous patient. Until recently, it was considered that the United Kingdom courts would be reluctant to impose a duty to protect third parties. However, the European Court of Human Rights' decision in Osman v UK--while not directly concerning healthcare professionals--has opened the door for just such a duty. When this duty will arise, and how it can be discharged, remain challenging questions. Furthermore, healthcare professionals face the unenviable task of balancing competing duties, in which the rights--and safety--of their patients must also be borne in mind.
authors.affiliation: School of Law, University of Glasgow.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gavaghan
mesh_terms: D017007:Duty to Warn; D005060:Europe; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients; D006113:United Kingdom