title: Commentary: lawyer phobia.
abstract: Fear of being involved in a malpractice lawsuit has spawned various defensive attitudes and behaviors in physicians. Despite the relative low rate of malpractice suits against psychiatrists, they too engage in defensive medicine. Simon's and Shuman's paper reviews the hidden danger to clinical care that defensive psychiatric practices can pose to both patients and doctors. This commentary further endorses the paper's position that the study of defensive medicine should be included in psychiatric residency training much like the study of countertransference.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21210-1612, USA. ctellefsen@aol.com
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tellefsen
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003479:Curriculum; D003675:Defensive Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000193:education* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012308:Risk Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*