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Psychiatric patients' rights vs. safety

By Mark Obbie

Elizabeth Bernstein and Nathan Koppel use a tragic case of matricide in Maine to spotlight the public-policy tensions between public safety and psychiatric patients' rights. Their powerful front-pager today in The Wall Street Journal -- bolstered by access to records showing how advocates sent William Bruce home, depriving him of care in a psychotic state -- focuses on the government-funded Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness program, or PAIMI, created by Congress in reaction to reports of abuse and neglect of the mentally ill in institutions. The story examines both sides of the debate, including details of legislation around the country that aims to rein in some of the perceived excesses of the patients-rights movement, and is greatly enhanced by access that the reporters were given by Bruce's father to documents showing what Bruce's advocates and caregivers debated behind the scenes before his release. The report includes a video, narrated by Koppel, along with photos and other multimedia add-ons.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 16, 2008 (boomark / email).