PsychiatryMatters.MD: "Psychiatrists 'practice defensive medicine'

As many as three out of four psychiatrists may be practicing defensive medicine to protect themselves against legal claims and complaints, a survey shows.
Kirsty Passmore (Stockton Learning Disability Service, Stockton, UK) and W-C Leung (University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK) found that the cautious behavior of many psychiatrists was the result of previous experience by the college, colleagues, or themselves of legal claims, complaints, or critical incidents, as well as concerns about media interest.
'Better and more structured training might reduce the high level of defensive practice,' they suggest, 'and the way complaints and investigations are handled should be improved to maintain a truly 'no blame' environment conducive to learning from past experiences.'
Questionnaires were sent to 154 psychiatrists in England, including "