Medicinal Cannabis

Topics: Cannabis | Legal issues | medicinal cannabis

CATR: Can you tell us a little bit about your work in the field of cannabis? Dr. D’Souza: For the past 25 years, I’ve been interested in the pharmacology of cannabis and cannabinoids. At first my interest was in relation to psychosis, but then it expanded to include the pathophysiology and treatment of cannabis use disorder (CUD). I have also bee

A Primer for Psychiatrists on Court Hearings

Topics: Capacity | Commitment | court hearings | involuntary civil commitment | Legal issues | medication capacity hold | Statutes | testifying

CHPR: Please tell us about yourself; you have a background in both law and psychiatry, right? Dr. VanDercar: Correct. I practiced law in Florida for a couple of years, working as in-house counsel and risk manager for a medical practice. I then remained in Florida for medical school before moving to Cleveland for psychiatry residency and a forensic psyc

Tarasoff: Making Sense of the Duty to Warn or Protect

Topics: Crime | Criminal behavior | duty to protect | duty to warn | Free Articles | Legal issues | Tarasoff

  Your hospitalized patient tells you that he is angry with his sister and intends to “bash her brains in.” He tells you she is sending him messages through the television that say she is going to kill him. Nurses note the patient has been tense and irritable and has been observed talking to himself. Tarasoff ruling: Background We often

Personal Privacy Versus Public Safety: Addiction Among Health Professionals

Topics: Abstinence | Addiction Treatment | Alcohol use disorder | Legal issues | Opioid Use Disorder | Special populations

CATR: Tell us how your interest in addiction came about. Dr. Earley: When I started working in the world of addiction treatment 35 years ago, there wasn’t much specific training. I was trained as a neurologist and always had an interest in patients with substance use disorders. Ultimately, I decided to shift my specialty and wound up cobbling togethe

Learning From the Successes of Physician Health Programs

Topics: Abstinence | Addiction Treatment | Alcohol use disorder | Legal issues | Opioid Use Disorder | Special populations

The rate of substance use disorders among physicians is around the same if not slightly higher than in the general population. Impaired physicians, however, are a public health threat, and in most states there is mandated reporting of impaired ­physicians (­Mossman D, Current Psychiatry 2011; 10(9):67–71). So what is to be done for an addicted or im