March 19, 1999

In a recent ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court established for the first time that mental health professionals have a limited duty to warn potential victims of harm by their patients.

The decision in the case, Emerich v. Philadelphia Center for Human Development and Albert Einstein Medical Center, was a victory for the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society (PPS) and Pennsylvania Medical Association, which had filed an amicus brief on behalf of the defendant health care providers.

The Emerich decision limits a psychiatrist's duty to warn in three ways: the patient must have communicated to the mental health professional a specific and immediate threat of serious bodily injury, the threat must have been made against a specifically identified or identifiable third party, and the professional has determined or should have determined, "according to the standards of the mental health profession, that his patient represents a serious threat of violence against the third party."

PPS member Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., said, "It is a responsible decision [that is] consistent with the medical ethics in psychiatry."