Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:1071-1074
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
"Medical responsibility" in institutional settings
B Bursten
The economics of institutional delivery of mental health care sometimes
makes it impossible for psychiatrists to meet the demands of medical
ethics. At times the psychiatrist's signature is used to imply a degree of
medical responsibility that is not justified or a degree of supervision of
less highly trained personnel that has not been given. The continuing
variance between psychiatry's ethical precepts and its practice in some
institutions creates an undesirable situation. The author examines several
options and concludes that the ethics should be rewritten. Dr. Frederick J.
Stoddard comments on the author's presentation.
