Also known as: psychiatrist duty to warn · psychiatrists' duty to warn · duty to warn psychiatrist · Tarasoff duty · Tarasoff rule · duty to warn
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A tort doctrine that requires a treating psychiatrist to take reasonable steps to warn an identifiable third party when a patient communicates a serious threat of physical violence against that person.
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Psychiatrist Pilar Pena treated patient Preston Pratt. Pratt told Pena he planned to shoot his coworker. Pena warned the coworker directly. The court held Pena satisfied the duty because the threat was serious and the victim identifiable.
Psychiatrist Patricia Patel treated patient Pavel Petrov. Petrov threatened only family members. When Petrov later assaulted a stranger, the court found no duty arose because the victim was not identifiable from the threats.
Psychiatrist Pedro Pacheco learned patient Peter Park intended to stab his ex-spouse. Pacheco called police and the ex-spouse. The steps fulfilled the duty even though Park had not yet acted on the threat.
Psychiatrist Marlon at Cedar Clinical heard patient Nina threaten her sister Clara. Marlon discharged Nina without warning Clara. When Nina later assaulted neighbor Donald, the court held no duty ran to Donald because the threats had been confined to family members and Donald was not an identifiable victim.
Psychiatrist Preston Pratt heard patient Patricia Patel state she would kill her landlord. Pratt notified the landlord and police. The warning met the duty because the threat was serious and the victim was named.
Psychiatrist Pavel Petrov treated patient Pilar Pena. Pena threatened a specific coworker but Petrov took no action. When Pena assaulted the coworker, the court imposed liability for breach of the duty to warn the identifiable victim.
The duty arises when a patient communicates a serious threat of physical violence against an identifiable victim. The psychiatrist must take reasonable steps to warn that person.
No. When threats and history of violence are confined to a discrete group such as family members, the duty does not extend to strangers or neighbors who fall outside that group.
Reasonable steps include directly notifying the intended victim, contacting police, or taking other measures that give the victim a chance to protect themselves, depending on the circumstances.
…of 1963. We shall conclude that plaintiffs' complaints state a cause of action against the psychotherapists for breach of the duty to warn Tatiana or her parents, but that they do not state a cause of action against the police for failure to warn or failure to confine. We further conclude that the police defendants are immune…