Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:1428-1432
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
The right to treatment suit as an agent of change
E Kaufman
Right to treatment suits can serve as agents of change in the standards and
function of psychiatric institutions. The author evaluated five state
psychiatric institutions as an expert witness in right to treatment suits.
He found that changes for the better were made in most of these
institutions as a result of the suit, whether it was settled or unsettled.
Although he enumerates the problems caused by such suits, he concludes that
they can be a positive force for improving mental health care.
