Liability Issues and Liability Prevention in Suicide (IN: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Suicide Assessment and Intervention, edited by D G Jacobs)

This article describes the complications of suicide and especially physician assisted suicide (PAS), where a physician is charged to be liable for the death of a patient. Thomas Gutheil describes how societal and cultural attitudes towards suicide affect attending physicians. Topics include physician insurance policies, liabilities, malpractice suits, legalities, the role of rage and grief of surviving families in pressing charges and risk management advice for physicians in cases of PAS.