Forensic Psychiatry & Medicine

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Most Recent Additions

Case: deVries, et al. vs Secaucus Fire Department, et al. A landmark civil rights verdict in a case alleging a town's politicians' failure to protect a gay couple who were harassed and eventually driven out of their home next to a fire station in Secaucus. Dr. Bursztajn served as the plaintiffs' attorneys' retained testifying expert regarding causation, the nature and extent of the emotional injuries and standards for reliability and validity for an forensic psychiatric Independent Medical Examination.
Dr. Bursztajn's Letter to the Editor of Together regarding Dr. Salomea Kape's article "Searching for Daniel," in the September 2007 (PDF) edition.
Dr. Bursztajn's book Psychiatric Ethics and the Rights of Persons with Mental Disabilities in Institutions and the Community, co-written with with Michael Perlin, Kris Gledhill and Eva Szeli with many case studies contributed by several of his mentees who nominated him for the Barger Award below, was published on February 25, 2008 and is available for download at the UNESCO and the International Center for Health Law and Ethics at the University of Haifa websites. Physical copies of the book may be purchased by contacting the editor Amnon Carmi. All purchased copies will benefit the work of the International Center for Health Law and Ethics at the University of Haifa and will help them to continue their work in this vital area.
In recognition of his many years serving as a Principal Mentor for students at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bursztajn was recently awarded the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award.
Dr. Bursztajn testified in three phases of the State of IL v. Aubrey Tucker trial: a hearing to suppress Tucker's confession that the defense alleged was coerced, in the guilt/innocence phase regarding Tucker's ability to form specific intent, and in the sentencing phase where the jury found that sufficient mitigating factors were present to preclude a death-penalty verdict.
Dr. Bursztajn testified in the Lyman Murder Trial in Sioux City, Iowa. Articles and video from local television stations are available here and here.
Dr. Bursztajn's recently published article in the September 2007 issue of Psychiatric Annals, DSM misuse pitfalls evident in clinical training and courtroom testimony.
Dr. Bursztajn's recent articles published in the Psychiatric Times Bonus Issue on Clinical Psychiatry and the Law. On Skepticism and Tolerance in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry and Reducing the Risk of Addiction to Prescribed Medications.
Dr. Bursztajn's recent article with Milo Fox Pulde, Darlyn Pirakitikulr and Michael Perlin published in Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy November 2006. Kumho for Clinicicans in the Courtroom - Inconsistency in the Trial Courts.
Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin issue from Autumn 2006 titled "Sparks of Inspiration" includes the article "Presciptions for Hope". Lessons from the Holocaust in how doctors can heal through hope, an adaptation of Dr. Bursztajn's original article "Reflections on My Father's Experience with Doctors During the Shoah (1939-1945)."
Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin issue from Spring 2005 titled "History's Medical Mysteries" includes the article "Dead Men Talking, " a synopsis of Dr. Bursztajn's contributions to three Atlantic Productions documentaries for the Discovery Channel.
Dr. Bursztajn’s contributions as a forensic neuropsychiatrist to highly acclaimed British-based educational films "Who Killed Julius Caesar?," "Who Killed Alexander the Great?," "Columbus: Secrets from the Grave."
Dr. Bursztajn's recent article with Darlyn Pirakitikulr published in The Journal of Clinical Ethics (Winter 2006) The Grand Inquisitor’s Choice: Comment on the CEJA Report on Withholding Information from Patients.
Dr. Bursztajn as a reviewer for the American Psychiatric Association in Are You There Alone? The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
Our website commended by Medicine on the Net.
Psychwatch: An award for our web site

By Category

Informed Consent & Malpractice

Dr. Bursztajn's recent article with Darlyn Pirakitikulr published in The Journal of Clinical Ethics (Winter 2006) The Grand Inquisitor’s Choice: Comment on the CEJA Report on Withholding Information from Patients.
Dr Bursztajn consults and teaches physicians, including psychiatrists, regarding the fundamentals of informed consent. "Informed Consent in Neuropsychosocialpharmacology," Psychiatric Times 2005; 22(13):59-63.

Employment Litigation

Discrimination Case in Newport News Settled

Emotional & Physical Damages

Dr. Bursztajn's letter to the editor of the Archives of General Medicine regarding the article Altered Pain Processing in Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder published in January 2007.

Standards for Experts

Dr. Bursztajn's recent article with Milo Fox Pulde, Darlyn Pirakitikulr and Michael Perlin published in Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy November 2006. Kumho for Clinicicans in the Courtroom - Inconsistency in the Trial Courts.
Dr. Thomas Gutheil's recent presentation to Harvard Medical School's Program in Psychiatry and the Law: Depositions: tips and traps.
Dr. Bursztajn's recent article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (32:205-10, 2003) Avoiding Ipse Dixit Mislabeling: Post-Daubert Approaches to Expert Clinical Opinions informs us how experts can reduce the likelihood that their conclusions will be mislabeled.

Product Liability

Is Your Doctor in Denial? Survey Finds Physicians Often Dismiss Complaints About Drugs' Side Effects
After Sanctions, Doctors Get Drug Company Pay. Many doctors who were sanctioned by a medical board were later paid for research by drug makers. New York Times, June 3, 2007.
Clinical Expertise in Medical Product Litigation or "Experts--What You Don't Know Can Hurt You." [Text only version] Dr. Bursztajn's presentation slides from the Drug & Medical Device Conference on December 14, 2004 in New York City. Topics discussed are how to find the medical expert for your case; how to best work with the expert; what should I do to prep for screening my expert and how to question certain experts.

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

Dr. Bursztajn's book review for the American Journal of Psychiatry (March 2006) on avoiding the pitfalls and keeping the promises of profiling perpetrators.
Dr. Bursztajn presents evidence of mental illness in a manner jurors could easily understand. In State of WA v. Kevin Cruz (2000) Dr. Bursztajn testified that the defendant was suffering from a variety of symptoms consistent with those of schizophrenic disorders. After a five month trial, the jury in Kevin's case was out approximately 4 hours before deciding to spare Kevin's life.
Dr. Bursztajn as a reviewer for the American Psychiatric Association in "Are You There Alone? The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates"
Dr. Bursztajn testifies that diminished mental capacity constitutes eligibility for a lower sentence in United States of America v Jane Doe.
Never Released, Yet Often Missing The effects of overloading the public sector due to managed care cutbacks on patient care and public safety. Dr. Bursztajn quoted in The Washington Post, February 10, 2003.

For more on protecting public safety and patient care in the managed care era please see: Protecting Patient Care.

Family & Custody Issues

Navigating Custody & Visitation Evaluations in Cases with Domestic Violence: A Judge's Guide.
This publication is intended to serve as a practical guide for judges on how to interpret and act on professional child custody evaluations when domestic violence is involved in family law cases.

Testamentary & Contractual Capacity

Dr. Bursztajn recently testified in the Lyman Murder Trial in Sioux City, Iowa. Articles and video from local television stations are available here and here.

Professional & Organizational Ethics

"Sleights of Mind," this recent New York Times article covers many areas similarly covered in Dr. Bursztajn's ground-breaking book, Medical Choices, Medical Chances.
The Logic of Privacy. From The Economist print edition comes a new way to think about computing and personal information
The Holocaust's Arab Heroes. An article on preliminary research into and a short recounting of a number of the Arab heroes during the Holocaust.
Why Our Hero Leapt Onto the Tracks and We Might Not. Recent New York Times article on what motivates a rare breed of people to make the leap and put other's lives above their own.
Dr Bursztajn has over the years been a leader in educational activities focused on enhancing patient safety and clinical and institutional risk management: Among his special areas of interest has been standards for distinguishing merited from unmerited psychiatric medical malpractice claims: Some psychiatric and medical malpractice suits are merited and some are not. Lake v. WVUH, et al. is illustrative of Dr. Bursztajn's concerns for maintaining standards for patient safety in this meritorious case.
"More May Not Mean Better in Health Care, Studies Find"
Dr. Bursztajn's Letter to the Editor of The New York Times (July 26, 2002) in which he states that "Research like that presented is all too often misused as a rationalization for policies that deny access to care and choice of treatments.
Reducing Clinical Research Risks Dr. Bursztajn's timely letter to The New York Times (August, 2001)alerting sponsors of clinical trials that they are accountable for protecting human subjects from unnecessary risks due to research.
The Ethics of Social Risk Reduction in the era of the biological Brain. In keeping with our transdisciplinary orientation, in this article Dr. Bursztajn and co-authors try to do several things at once. They address research on preventing mental illness and its relation to existing conceptions of public health, a topic to which insufficient attention has been paid in the era of the biological brain, while using this case study to illustrate the limits of conventional approaches in bioethics
As Technology Improves, More People Breathe With Machines April 24, 2001 Article in the Science Section of the New York Times with Dr. Bursztajn's response to the editor.
RICO Ruling May 13, 2001. U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno today issued a major ruling in the racketeering lawsuit brought by the country's physicians against the nation's largest HMOs.

Educator

Dr. Bursztajn's long standing special interests is psychiatric and forensic psychiatric diagnostic interviewing. This includes the differentiation of suffering in the post-traumatic spectrum from misattribution, unrelated major mental illness, exaggeration and malingering.

Dr. Bursztajn's most recent presentations are:

2006 World Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association 2006 Annual Meeting
American Bar Association Mental Health & Disability Commission Semiannual Meeting

Also among Dr. Bursztajn's areas of expertise are public health education and violence prevention.was one of the few analysts who, from the outset was able to validly identify the activities of the Washington DC area snipers as being characteristic of copycat terrorists. See CNN Interview

Leading forensic investigators describing Dr. Bursztajn's selection to provide forensic psychiatric expertise for the two hour television documentary The Assassination of King Tut , Discovery Channel, Fall 2002.

Medical Choices, Medical Chances: How Patients, Families, and Physicians Can Cope With Uncertainty

This classic book has been reviewed favorably in leading medical journals ranging from the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association to the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

Accredited Psychiatry & Medicine