This group has a new chair, Dr. Jhilam Biswas, and we are conducting a search for a new Resident Fellow Training Co-chair. The Psychiatry and Law committee had a meeting and discussion on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, to introduce interested residents and fellows to forensic fellowship programs across the state. We introduced the program directors, Dr. Matt Lahaie and Dr. Jhilam Biswas of the newly integrated Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship who answered trainee questions. This meeting also highlighted Dr. Paul Noroian and Co-presenter Dr. Margarita Abi Zeid Daou who presented on the Department of Mental Health's pathway to managing forensic patients and a discussion of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123. They also answered questions as the program director and assistant program director of the UMASS Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. In regard to upcoming news, we are also endorsing participation among our group in the Violence Risk Assessment talk hosted by the MPS Multicultural/Diversity Committee scheduled for December 2nd. We are hoping to have more sessions this year dedicated to mental health courts and are in the process of lining up speakers.
2017 Forensic Psychiatry Interest Group Report
The Forensic Psychiatry interest group (a.k.a. committee on psychiatry and law) looks forward to another active year. We met three times in the last year to grapple with issues relating to the Rogers Decision. We discussed the theoretical foundations of Rogers, and how it is implemented in actual practice. We brought together attorneys from the Committee for Public Counsel Services led by Attorney Mark Larsen with psychiatrists who work in various settings and with various patient populations throughout the state. We included attorneys who work for local hospitals. Judge Rosemary Minehan joined us to think about the issues that play out at Bridgewater State Hospital. We recognize the inevitable conflicts that arise in an adversarial process while at the same time working together to overcome inefficiencies and delays that arise in actual practice. We plan to build on the momentum by meeting several times this year with a continuing focus of fine tuning and improving the processes related to Commitment, Guardianship, antipsychotic medication treatment plans, informed consent, and other topics of relevance to psychiatric practice and the law.
