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Biomedical subjects

E J Kermani

Publications and source records attributed to E J Kermani.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Psychoactive substance use in forensic psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to discuss the interface between judicial discipline and behavioral science in the context of substance-related disorders. METHOD: We review the epidemiology of psychoactive drug use and crime and discuss the courts' decisions on relevant landmark cases, particularly as they influence the practice of psychiatry. RESULTS: (1) The phenomenology of addiction and crime is of great epidemiological import. (2) Our legal system inclines toward the view that the use of alcohol or other substances involves an element of choice and therefore would not amount to a legal insanity defense if the substance abuser commits a crime while intoxicated. (3) A state can confine an addict or alcoholic for compulsory treatment if that individual presents a danger to self or others. (4) The law has found that alcoholism and drug abuse are both "willful misconduct" and a disabling condition; the former definition contains the end in view of punitive action. The latter is aimed toward treatment and rehabilitation. (5) The law gives the right to the employer to test a suspected employee for drug abuse. The addicted or alcoholic employee has the choice to either go for treatment or face job termination. (6) Our judicial system gives serious consideration to the welfare of a child whose parents are alcoholic or drug addicted. CONCLUSION: The two disciplines of psychiatry and law follow their own modes in resolving issues in alcoholism and other substance abuse. We need research and new approaches to build a bridge between the two.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1995

Biological parents regaining their rights: a psycholegal analysis of a new era in custody disputes.

The evolving American family presents new psycholegal dilemmas. Recently many publicized landmark cases have involved custody disputes in which settlements turn on the genetic component. Although the court acknowledges the principle of "the best interest of the child" as important to the determination of custody, this interest is not absolutely paramount. Court rulings have taken the position that the rights of biological parents are a threshold issue that must be resolved first. Thus, children may be removed from their adoptive and psychological parents through a court order. The authors present a psycholegal analysis of important cases with a guideline for the future.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Psychiatry and the death penalty: the landmark Supreme Court cases and their ethical implications for the profession.

The U.S. Supreme Court has made a number of recent rulings in regard to the death penalty that will likely have the effect of increasing the use of psychiatry during the trial and sentencing process in capital cases. Any such changes are bound to increase the number of ethical dilemmas faced by psychiatrists involved in such work. The rulings affecting psychiatry include: (1) The Eighth Amendment forbids the execution of persons who are mentally incompetent in regard to their ability to appreciate the reasons for punishment. (2) A mentally-ill prisoner may be forcibly given neuroleptics if he presents a danger to himself or others. (3) Forced medication may not be used during the trial and sentencing phase if it has the potential to change the defendant's demeanor significantly enough to affect his defense. (4) Aggravating psychological factors affecting a convictee may be balanced against mitigating factors in considering whether death sentence should be imposed. (5) The psychosocial impact of the crime upon the victim's family may be presented during the sentencing phase as factors relevant to sentencing. (6) Adolescents and retarded individuals are not immune from the death penalty simply by virtue of their age or level of intelligence.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

Child sexual abuse revisited by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In deciding a landmark child sexual abuse case, the U.S. Supreme Court broke new ground in addressing the unique needs and qualities of child witnesses. The Court unanimously decided that the spontaneous statement of an abused child, made outside of a courtroom and while receiving medical treatment because of molestation, is trustworthy and may be allowed as evidence at trial. The Court curtailed the right of a defendant to go face to face against the child accuser, considering that a victimized child's statement, made while he or she is emotionally injured, has substantial value that cannot be duplicated simply by testifying later in court.

Child Abuse, Sexual↗
PubMed1992

Issues of child custody and our moral values in the era of new medical technology.

A series of ethical, moral, and legal dilemmas are presented along with the related landmark case law. The definition of motherhood and the types of mothers, such as genetic, gestational, and surrogate, have become a confusing matter, not only for a growing child but for lawmakers and mental health professionals as well. Pregnancy through artificial insemination gives certain rights to women who are not married to the father, even when these women have contracted to surrender the baby after birth. The law has recognized that biological mothers have a potential right to custody or at least visitation. Such a right, however, is not established on behalf of a father whose only relationship with a child is through his genetic component unless a strong emotional bond exists, and the mother is not married to and cohabiting with her husband. The author argues that the principle of "the child's best interest" must prevail in all custody disputes, regardless of who the biological parent is.

Child↗
PubMed1991

The U.S. Supreme Court on victimized children: the constitutional rights of the defendant versus the best interests of the child.

In deciding seven recent landmark child abuse cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has addressed and sought to balance the inherent conflict between the constitutional rights of the defendant and the best interests of the child. In four of the cases, the Court found that the interests of the child superseded the rights of the defendant. In three cases, the Court gave more validity to the constitutional rights of the defendant. The author examines the lengthy nature of such legal proceedings and the reasoning forming the basis for the Supreme Court's decisions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

AIDS and confidentiality: legal concept and its application in psychotherapy.

Persons with positive HIV appear to have the same right to confidentiality as other medical psychiatric patients. The ethical and legal duties of practitioners who learn that their HIV positive patients are endangering others is discussed. The essential policies of the CDC, AMA, and APA are reviewed along with the current legal situation. One conclusion reached is that applying the Tarasoff doctrine to warn/protect a third party, if that party may already be infected, is useful only when the third party is moral and sensible enough to cease behavior that would spread the disease to others.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Psychiatry and the death penalty: dilemma for mental health professionals.

The arguments for and against mental health professionals' participation in death penalty proceedings are presented against the background of U.S. Supreme Court decisions which have had a bearing on this issue. It is concluded that the possibility of presenting mitigating psychologic testimony in such proceedings necessitates the possibility of exacerbating psychiatric testimony and that hence, mental health professionals who testify for the prosecution in such cases do not, on a wider view, violate their hippocratic oaths or other ethical codes. A number of safeguards, however, should be instituted with respect to such testimony. Psychiatrists, psychologists or other qualified mental health professionals should (1) testify with medical "possibility" or "probability," (2) not be permitted to address ultimate legal issues and (3) be permitted, in fact encouraged, to present alternative interpretations of forensic psychiatric findings. It is further argued that in addition to being justified in testifying for the prosecution on death penalty cases, mental health professionals may have a moral rationale for treating death row prisoners and restoring them to competency.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1987

Tarasoff decision: a decade later dilemma still faces psychotherapists.

The landmark cases on the "duty to warn" concept are reviewed. Two trends are noted in the court rulings. The first trend narrowly interprets the duty to warn as applying only to situations involving a serious threat to a specific individual. The second trend has broadened the doctrine to include warnings about patients who do not make threats and whose potential victims are unspecified. The authors argue that the original Tarasoff Doctrine is sound both from the perspective of public policy and psychotherapeutic practice, but that its broader interpretation is problematic for psychotherapists.

Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders↗
PubMed1985

New psychopathologic findings in AIDS: case report.

A 33-year-old male homosexual AIDS patient was initially admitted to a psychiatric hospital for treatment of a manic episode. Over a 2-month hospitalization, the patient developed progressively severe memory and cognitive impairments which were documented by neuropsychologic testing and were consistent with abnormal EEG and CT scan findings. This case illustrates that major psychiatric symptoms can be profoundly involved early in the natural course of AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1982

Court rulings on psychotherapists.

A review of court rulings on psychotherapists reveals that: privilege of communication may be overruled; lawsuits may be brought against psychiatrists because they were unable to curb their countertransference and because they had had sexual encounters with patients; psychiatrists were found not guilty if their patients committed suicide; involuntary psychotherapy might be ordered by the court; abusive language does not constitute malpractice; and psychotherapists, records are private material and should not be published.

Confidentiality↗
PubMed1981

Violent psychiatric patients: a study.

In a study of fifty-three violent psychiatric patients in a psychiatric hospital setting, it was found that there are two distinct major groups of violent patients--one of patients with a long history of antisocial behavior who are often chronically homicidal and suicidal, and another of patients who neither have a history of destructive behavior nor exhibit homicidal or suicidal tendencies. The latter become acutely assaultive only during the course of psychiatric illness. The personality traits and background associated with these two groups offer additional contrasts. Each group presents different problems and, of major importance to the psychiatric practioner, each group requires different management.

Adult↗