Articles

State of the Art Course To Meet October 12th -15th, Hyatt Regency Long Beach, Long Beach, California This is a link to the California Society of Addiction Medicine 2011 State of the Art Conference. fpamed forensic psychiatrist and addiction specialist, David Y. Kan, MD, is the conference chair. http://www.associationinternet.com/csam/csam.html The Conference will be featuring some of the heaviest hitters [...]

This article, written by forensic psychiatrist Mark Levy MD together with civil trial attorney, Michael Larin, Esq., describes fpamed’s unique team approach to assessing emotional damages in multi-plaintiff litigation. Download FTD-Assessing Emotional Damages-LarinLevy

This PowerPoint slide show present an overview of the American legal concepts of divorce and child custody and the roles of the forensic child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychologist in assessing divorcing parents and their children to help develop custody decisions that best serve the emotional needs of the children and their parents.

Our primary skill is explaining complex medical and behavioral information in a readily understood and accurate manner. In the legal arena, as in our clinical practices, teaching, and scholarship, clear communication is our central goal. We reach our opinions and offer testimony based on evidence, not simply our authority. Integrating the data from medical records, [...]

The 9th circuit federal appeals court majority said Tuesday that a previous ruling, and an earlier Supreme Court decision, allow an emotonal damages suit alleging Posttraumatic Stress Disorder by a seaman who was in a negligently operated vessel’s “zone of danger.”

A slide show accompanying a lecture for Attorneys by Dr. Meffert discussing the issue of working with traumatized clients.

It is unknown whether anger is a risk factor for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, arises as a consequence of PTSD, or both. Two hypotheses were tested in 180 police recruits: Greater trait anger during training will predict greater PTSD symptoms at one year; greater PTSD symptoms at one year will predict greater state anger at one year. Both hypotheses were confirmed, suggesting that trait anger is a risk factor for PTSD symptoms, but that PTSD symptoms are also associated with an increase of state anger. Increased anger is important not only because of the impact it has on individual distress and physical health, but also because of its potential public health impact.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of United States v. Cope, 506
F.3d 908 (9th Cir. 2007), on November 5, 2007. At issue were the imposition of a lifetime of supervised
release and the special conditions of release.. Dr. Meffert discusses this case and the underlying issues.

Hundreds of thousands of Darfur people affected by the Sudanese genocide have fled to Cairo, Egypt, in search of assistance. Collaborating with Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), the authors conducted a mental health care needs assessment among Darfur refugees in Cairo. Information was collected using individual and focus group interviews to identify gaps in mental health care and develop understandings of emotional and relationship problems. The refugee mental health care system has a piecemeal structure with gaps in outpatient services. There is moderate to severe emotional distress among many Darfur refugees, including symptoms of depression and trauma, and interpersonal conflict, both domestic violence and broader community conflict, elevated relative to pregenocide levels. Given the established relationships between symptoms of depression/traumatic stress and interpersonal violence, improving mental health is important for both preventing mental health decompensation and stemming future cycles of intra- and intergroup conflict.

Edna Foa, PhD, the creator of Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is interviewed by Time Magazine.