The Psychiatric Nurse's Duty to Warn Potential Victims of Homicidal Psychotherapy Outpatients

American Nurses' Association, Statement on Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Practice 11 (ANA Publication Code PMH-3; December 1976).

Bullough B. , The Law andthe Expanding Nursing Role (2d edition) (Appleton, Century, Crofts, New York) (1980) at 51 [hereinafter cited as Bullough).

American Nurses' Association, The Nursing Practice Act: Suggested State Legislation 6 (ANA Publication Code #G-142 1M; February 1980).

Bullough , supra note 2. The seven states are Rhode Island, Arkansas, Georgia, West Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas.

McIntosh v. Milano, 403 A.2d 500 (N.J. 1979).

Shaw v. Glickman, 415 A.2d 625 (Md. App. 1980).

Richards v. Stanley, 271 P.2d 23 (Cal. 1954).

Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Psychotherapist's Peril, University of Pittsburgh Law Review 37(1):155 (1976).

Restatement (Second) of Torts §314 (1965).

Note, Psychiatrists' Duty to the Public: Protection from Dangerous Patients, University of Illinois Law Forum 1976(4): 1103, 1104 (1976).

See, e.g., Williams v. United States, 450 F. Supp. 1040 (D.S.D. 1978).

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 551 P.2d 334, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14 (1976) [hereinafter cited as Tarasoff].

Tarasoff, supra note 12, 551 P.2d at 340.

Id. at 342.

Id. at 345.

Id.

Id. at 347.

See Cal. Evid. Code §1024 (West 1966).

Tarasoff, supra note 12, 551 P.2d at 344.

Id. at 344.

Id. at 347.

McIntosh v. Milano, supra note 5.

Id. at 510.

Id.

Lemelle v. Superior Court for the County of Orange, 143 Cal. Rptr. 450 (Cal. App. 1978).

141 Cal. Rptr. 92 (Cal. App. 1977).

See Hawkins v. King County Department of Rehabilitative Services, 602 P. 2d 361 (Wash. App. 1979) (lawyer had no duty to warn potential victim of his client's intent where the victim knew of the danger); Leedy v. Hartnett, 510 F. Supp. 1125, 1131 (M.D. Pa. 1981) (whether victim knowingly and voluntarily assumed risk of being assaulted is relevant factor in establishing whether defendant is liable for failure to warn).

Leedy v. Hartnett, supra note 27, at 1130; Thompson v. County of Alameda, 614 P.2d 728, 167 Cal. Rptr. 70 (1980) (county institution had no duty to warn when juvenile resident on leave made only general threats to kill a young child in the community).

497 F. Supp. 185 (D. Neb. 1980).

See Mavroudis v. Superior Court of County of San Mateo, 162 Cal. Rptr. 724 (Cal. App. 1980). The court followed the Tarasoff holding in that it granted the plaintiff's writ of mandamus to compel the production of a mental hospital's records. The court said the hospital might have had a duty to warn and the records would make clear the hospital's legal obligations.

See Seibel v. City and County of Honolulu 602 P.2d 532 (Haw. 1979). A 15 year old girl was killed by a man released by the prosecutor's office. Even though the city knew of the murderer's past prosecution and of his suspected new offense, the city had no control over the murderer, and thus the court held that no special relationship existed. See also DeSuza v. Andersack, 133 Cal. Rptr. 920 (Cal. App. 1976). The court held that there was no special relationship between an intoxicated driver and his passenger sufficient to create a duty on the part of the passenger to protect an injured third party: “Neither the driver nor the passenger was asserting the right to control the other.” Id. at 925.

In re Edward D. , 132 Cal. Rptr. 100 (Cal. App. 1976) (dissent noted that only physical harm was dealt with by the Tarasoff court); Borer v. American Airlines, 563 P.2d 858, 138 Cal. Rptr. 302 (1977) (Tarasoff could not be stretched to cover children's loss of parental consortium).

Note, A Psychotherapist Who Knows or Should Know His Patient IntendsViolence to Another Incurs A Duty to Warn, Cumberland Law Review 7(3):551 (1977); Note, The Dangerous Patient Exception and the Duty to Warn, University of California Davis Review 9:549 (1976).

Note, Imposing a Duty to Warn on Psychiatrists: A Judicial Threat to the Psychiatric Profession, University of Colorado Law Review 48(1):238 (1977); Stone, The Tatasoff Decisions: Swing Psychotherapists to Safeguard Society, Harvard Law Review 90(2):358 (1976).

Stone , supra note 34, at 369 (1976).

Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Duty to Warn: Common Law and Statutory Problems for California Psychotherapists, California Western Law Review 14(0):153 (1978); Note, Imposing a Duty to Warn on Psychiatrists, supra note 34, at 296. See also Welsch v. Likins, 373 F. Supp. 487 (D. Minn. 1974).

Stone , supra note 34, at 371; Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Psychotherapist's Peril, supra note 8, at 164.

Cumberland Law Review, supra note 33, at 558.

Note, Imposing a Duty to Warn on Psychiatrists, supra note 34, at 301. See also Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).

See, e.g., Hammonds v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 243 F. Supp. 793, 801–02 (N.D. Ohio 1965).

Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Duty to Warn: Common Law and Statutory Problems for California Psychotherapists, supra note 36, at 178.

See, e.g., Cal. Evid. Code §1024 (West 1966).

McIntosh v. Milano, supra note 5, at 512.

American Nurses' Association, Code for Nurses with Interpretative Statements (ANA Publication Code No. G-56 25M, 1976) at 6.

Id. at 7.

Fenner K. , Ethics and Law in Nursing (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York) (1980) at 38.

Minnesota Board of Nursing, Guidelines for Assignment of Nursing Personnel (1972) at 5.

Beauchamp T. Childress J. , Principles of Biomedical Ethics (Oxford University Press, New York) (1979) at 296 [hereinafter cited as Beauchamp].

Fleming M. , The Patient or HisVictim: The Therapist's Dilemma, California Law Review 62(3): 1025 (1974).

Note, Untangling Tarasoff, Hastings Law Journal 29:179 (1977).

Slovenko , Psychotherapy and Confidentiality, Cleveland State Law Review 24(3):375 (1975); Note, Tort Liability of the Psychotherapist, University of San Francisco Law Review 8:405 (1973).

Note, Untangling Tarasoff, supra note 50, at 190.

As to child abuse see, e.g., Idaho Code Ann. §16–1619 (1978) (includes nurses); Minn. Stat. Ann. §626. 556 (nurse included); N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 169:37–169:45 (nurse included). As to gunshot wounds see, e.g., Minn. Stat. Ann. §626.52 (nurses included); Del. Code Ann. tit. 24, §1762 (Supp. 1964) (physicians); Iowa Code §147.111-.113 (1966). As to venereal disease, Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, §702 (1953); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 22, §1094 (1964) (physicians and institutions).

Simonsen v. Swenson, 177 N.W. 831 (Neb. 1920).

Note, Tort Liability of the Psychotherapist, supra note 51, at 405.

American Nurses Association, Code for Nurses (1976) at 8 (emphasis supplied).

Id. at 19.

Id.

Beauchamp , supra note 48, at 297.

Fenner , supra note 46, at 38.

Stone , supra note 34, at 366; Note, Psychiatrists' Duty to the Public: Protection from Dangerous Patients, supra note 10, at 1125. See also Merchant's National Bank of Fargo v. United States, 272 F. Supp. 409 (D.N.D. 1967).

Note, Imposing a Duty to Warn on Psychiatrists, supra note 34, at 288, 307–09.

Cumberland Law Review, supra note 33, at 558; Note, Imposing A Duty to Warn on Psychiatrists, supra note 34, at 289; Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Duty to Warn: Common Law and Statutory Problems for California Psychotherapists, supra note 36, at 166.

Cocozza Steadman , Prediction in Psychiatry: An Example of Misplaced Confidence in Experts, Social Problems 25(3):265 (1978).

Note, Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California: The Duty to Warn: Common Law and Statutory Problems for California Psychotherapists, supra note 36, at 372.

Stone , supra note 34, at 372.

Note, Untangling Tarasoff, supra note 50, at 203.

McIntosh v. Milano, supra note 5, at 510.

Id. at 514.

Tarasoff , supra note 12, 551 P. 2d at 344.

Note, Untangling Tarasoff, supra note 48, at 208.

Tarasoff , supra note 12, 551 P.2d at 345.

Aguilera Messick , Crisis Intervention (3rd Edition) (Mosby, St. Louis) (1978) at 66.

Note, Psychiatrists' Duty to the Public, supra note 10, at 1126; Fleming M. , supra note 49, at 1064.

Note, Tort Liability of the Psychotherapist, supra note 51, at 433.

Stone , supra note 34, at 374.

Note, Psychiatrists' Duty to the Public, supra note 10, at 1126.

Fleming M. , supra note 49, at 1064.