Psychiatric Malpractice
Pennsylvania Psychiatric Malpractice Lawyer
TR DeAngelo Law represents patients and families in Pennsylvania after psychiatric and mental health care falls short, including missed suicide risk, unsafe discharge, failures to monitor on inpatient units, psychiatric medication errors and medical illness mistaken for a psychiatric condition.
Mental health care carries the same duty of care
People in a mental health crisis are often at their most vulnerable. They and their families rely on psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, nurses, therapists and hospitals to assess risk carefully, keep patients safe, prescribe and monitor medication properly, and plan for what happens after discharge. When that care falls below the accepted standard and a patient is harmed, the injury or loss may be medical malpractice.
These cases can arise in a psychiatric hospital or unit, an emergency department, a general hospital floor, an outpatient practice or a telehealth visit.
Common issues in psychiatric malpractice cases
- Missed or incomplete suicide risk screening and assessment
- Discharge of a patient at high risk without an adequate safety plan or follow-up
- Failure to observe or monitor a patient as ordered, including lapses in close or one-to-one observation
- Unsafe unit environments, including fixtures that could be used for self-harm
- Psychiatric medication errors, dangerous combinations and missed side effects
- Failure to recognize a medical cause behind new psychiatric symptoms, such as infection, stroke, a brain tumor or a drug reaction
- Failure to involve family members when the patient allowed it, or to act on what family members reported
- Breakdowns in communication between the emergency department, inpatient unit and outpatient providers
Suicide risk is a clinical responsibility
Suicide risk is assessed, documented and planned for like any other serious clinical risk. The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal on suicide prevention calls on hospitals to screen patients treated for behavioral health conditions with a validated tool, to assess those who screen positive, to document the level of risk and the plan to reduce it, to follow policies for monitoring patients at high risk, and to provide counseling and follow-up care at discharge. Psychiatric units are also expected to assess the physical environment for features that could be used for self-harm.
When a loved one dies by suicide after a hospital stay, an emergency department visit or ongoing treatment, the records often show what the care team knew and what it did with that information. Learn how suicide malpractice cases are reviewed →
Psychiatric medication errors
Psychiatric medications can cause serious harm when they are prescribed, combined, changed or stopped without proper care. A review may look at dosing, interactions, required laboratory monitoring, warnings about new or worsening suicidal thoughts when a medication is started or changed, sedation and fall risk, and whether side effects were recognized and acted on. Read more about medication error claims →
Reviewing the record through a nurse’s eyes
Psychiatric records tell a story across many hands. A nurse reviewing them looks at the risk screening and assessment, observation flowsheets and rounding logs, nursing notes on mood and behavior, medication administration records, physician and nurse practitioner orders, family communications, discharge instructions and safety plans, and the timing of follow-up appointments. Gaps between what was ordered, what was observed and what was done often explain what went wrong.
In some psychiatric treatment settings, Pennsylvania’s Mental Health Procedures Act applies its own liability standard, so the legal analysis starts with which law governs the care. That is one reason these cases need early, careful review.
Related articles: Suicide After a Hospital or ER Discharge · Where Preventable Medication Errors Can Occur
Reviewed by Terry DeAngelo, Esq., RN. Terry is a Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney, a registered nurse, and a United States Air Force veteran who served on active duty as a clinical nurse. He has been selected to the Pennsylvania Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers, 2022–2026. About Terry
This page provides general information only. It is not legal or medical advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Clinical review before expert review
Before a case goes to expert review, Terry draws on the experience of various independent medical-legal consultants, including Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and board-certified nurse practitioner consultants in critical care and neurology, family practice, nurse-midwifery and psychiatric-mental health, and a Doctor of Optometry (OD). Meet the consultant specialties →
Related resources
Pennsylvania Suicide Malpractice Lawyer · Pennsylvania Medication Error Lawyer · Pennsylvania Hospital Negligence Lawyer · Pennsylvania Emergency Room Malpractice Lawyer · Pennsylvania Nursing Negligence Lawyer · Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyer