Psychotherapist Alerted by a Patient's Immediate Family of a Threat by the Patient Can Be Held Liable for Failing to Warn the Patient's Victim; Expert Testimony Not Required to Establish Liability
Ewing v. Northridge Hosp. Med. Ctr., 16 Cal. Rptr. 3d 591 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004)
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of California, 551 P.2d 334 (1976), the first judicial opinion to rule that a psychotherapist may have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect a third party who has been threatened by the psychotherapist's patient, reverberated across the country. A number of states, including California and Virginia, enacted legislation to specify more clearly when this duty arises...