Off-Label Prescribing by Psychiatrists: What is the Practitioner's Liability?

In psychiatry, the molecules available and the dosages recommended when a drug receives marketing authorization are not always adequate to treat patients with major behavioral disturbances. Off-label prescribing is frequent in this context, with regard to the indications and the dosages given as well as to the drug combinations used. However, if complications or death occur, the practitioner's liability may be engaged. The authors report three deaths attributed to off-label prescribing in psychiatry and which led to charges against the physicians. They review the precautions to be taken when prescribing in such conditions (no other possible treatment, existence of sound scientific evidence, consent obtained from the patient, or their legal representatives except in cases of force majeure) and the physician's liability if adverse events occur that could be attributed to off-label prescribing.     

The Nairobi Declaration: Redefining Reparation for Women Victims of Sexual Violence

This paper explores the contribution of the Nairobi Declarationon the Right of Women and Girls to a Remedy and Reparation tothe problem of delivering justice through reparation programmesfor women victims of sexual violence in conflict situations.It highlights that this civil society initiative is particularlysignificant because it gives voice to women and girls who aresurvivors of sexual violence. Placed in the context of the recentadoption by the United Nations' General Assembly of the BasicPrinciples and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparationfor Victims of Gross Violations of International Human RightsLaw and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law,the Nairobi Declaration redefines reparation and guides policy-makingto implement the right to reparation specifically for victimsof sexual violence. The concept of reparation as a transformativeand participative process put forward in the Nairobi Declarationconstitutes its most innovative and inspiring contribution.     

Disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system: An investigation of ethnic disparity in program referral at disposition

Historically, minority youth have experienced harsher punishments and more negative outcomes than White youth even when risk assessment is used. The current study investigated the role of ethnicity in an understudied dispositional decision–program referral–and the outcomes associated with said referral using a sample of juvenile offenders (N = 2,678). The study used the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) to determine (1) if ethnicity predicted program referral when accounting for risk assessment and (2) if program referral predicted recidivism. Results indicated that ethnicity predicted program referral, and program referral predicted recidivism. Future directions for Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) research and implications for court officials are discussed.