Can a Child Therapist be Sued for Medical Malpractice?

By Rasansky McKenzie

While it can be helpful to children and their families to seek child counseling, it is devastating when a child therapist betrays a family’s trust. You might not think that such a catastrophe is possible. However, there have been numerous incidents of medical malpractice lawsuits involving child therapists, child psychologists and child psychiatrists.
KidsHealth.org states a few facts that all families accept as true: therapy for children is a very positive thing. Children are encouraged to talk to school counselors and sometimes even professional therapists if there are some deep-rooted issues to confront. A child therapist can help children, among other things, to:

• Learn speech or toilet training
• Overcome ADD
• Work out anger issues or other disorders
• Improve grades
• Work out feelings of depression or grief
• Improve social anxiety or isolation
• Help bullying incidents
• Address physical problems
• Recover from trauma

One particular case of child therapist malpractice claims that a doctor prescribed drugs for a suicidal 17-year-old. The medical malpractice issue involved over-medication and drug errors. Another shocking story comes to us from the New York Times. In this scenario, the victim is not suing because of what a child therapist did-but because of what he didn’t do. This medical malpractice lawsuit will determine whether Dr. DeMasi molested a child patient, and then whether his psychiatrist named Dr. Ingram, was in error by not breaking doctor-patient confidentiality trust and informing authorities. This promises to set a major precedent considering the many factors at play: a doctor who is allegedly a pedophile, a conflict of interest between law and profession, and a case that happened over 10 years ago.
These examples prove that no child therapist is ever exempt from accountability. If a child is injured because of the action or inaction of a trusted doctor, then it may be considered medical malpractice. If your child has suffered because of the negligence of a child therapist then contact Rasansky | McKenzie Law and tell us your story. Or, you may call us for a FREE consultation at (214) 651-6100.

About the Author

Anyone can hire a lawyer, but if you want to give yourself the best possible chance at success, call the experienced attorneys at Rasansky McKenzie. You only get one chance to bring your case before a court. Let them put their expertise to work for you.