• Informed Consent &
  Malpractice
• Employment Litigation
  ADA - Disability - Sexual Misconduct
  Discrimination - Worker's Compensation
• Emotional &
  Physical Damages
  Conscious Pain & Suffering
  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  Neuropsychiatric Autopsy
• Standards for Experts
• Product Liability
  Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals
  Toxic Tort
• Criminal Justice &
  Public Safety
  Diminished Capacity - Drug Addiction
  Competency to Confess
  Death Penalty Mitigation
  Workplace Safety
• Family & Custody Issues
• Testamentary &
  Contractual Capacity
• Professional &
  Organizational Ethics
  Patient Care - Managed Care - Privacy
• Psychoanalysis &
  Cultural Perspectives

Family and Custody Issues

• Case: In Re: Estate of Herbert Joel Zieben, Deceased. The forensic neuropsychiatric evaluation of testamentary capacity and undue influence.
• Article: 10 percent of new moms labor under depression. Dr. Bursztajn is quoted in the Boston Herald with succinct advice for new moms experiencing postpartum depression.

Allegations such as lack of parental fitness or intentional infliction of emotional harm disputes sometimes arise in divorce and custody issues. Resolution of such charges may be helped by a forensic psychiatric examination.

• Rebirth of Forensic Psychiatry "Forensic Neuropsychiatric Examination and Diminished Capacity for Marriage"
• The site of the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute focuses on reproductive health law. It provides resources on the topics of abortion, law and public policy, pregnancy and birth, prevention and contraception, sexual behavior, STD and youth. Alan Guttmacher Institute
• Case: "Forensic Neuropsychiatric Examination and Diminished Capacity for Marriage"
• Case: Summary of the case, A.Z. vs. B.Z. Informed consent and in vitro fertilization
• Article: House of Delegates unanimously supports principle of civil Gideon. A renewed post-Gideon and Ake interest in the fundamental right to counsel in criminal and civil proceedings involving basic human rights such as child custody.
• Child Custody Evaluation Guidelines
• 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.

• Article: For teenager, 'confidential' is conditional. Dr. Bursztajn is quoted in this Boston Globe article on the right to medical confidentiality for teenagers.

Stepparenting

Book Chapter: Bursztajn HJ, Boersma, RB. Forensic and Therapeutic Issues in Stepparent Adoptions, A Psychoanalytic Perspective. In: Cath S, Shopper M, eds. Stepparenting. The Analytic Press, Inc. Hillsdale, NJ, 2001; 242-255.

LEGAL RESOURCES: The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is a fifteen-member body established by Chapter 211D of the Massachusetts General Laws to oversee the provision of legal representation to indigent persons in the Commonwealth. For more information, see the CPCS Mental Health Litigation Home Page.

Dr. Bursztajn has an active patient care practice and consults to physicians, institutions, judges, and plaintiff and defense counsel nationally.