APA Trustees last month approved a change in the profession's ethics code that will limit the amount of time between an initial charge against a member that is turned down for investigation and a subsequent request for review by the same complainant.

Under the newly approved language, a request for review must be filed within 60 days after an initial request for investigation has been turned down.

The following wording was approved by Trustees for paragraph 3, page 11 of the "Procedures for Handling Complaints of Unethical Conduct," as printed in The Principles of Medical Ethics With Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry: "If the district branch determines that the charges do not merit investigation, it shall notify the complainant, stating the basis for the conclusion and informing the complainant that he/she may request a review of this decision no later than 60 days to the secretary of APA."

The wording change was first recommended by APA's Committee on Ethics and was approved by the Assembly in November.

In a report to the Board last month, the Ethics Committee noted that in one case a request for review was presented more than 10 years after the initial charge had been turned down. Records were no longer available for the original complaint, according to the committee's report.

Because of the new wording change, the disposition of records and other materials relating to a complaint after the 60 days have elapsed would be up to the district branch.

(Psychiatric News, January 3, 1997)