Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Muddying the Mental Health Waters
Psychiatry is far from being the only mental health profession. A review of the statutes in just this author's state of Alaska reveals separate professional licensing boards for social workers, marital and family therapists, nurses, professional counselors, psychologists, psychological associates and, of course, physicians. AS 08.03.010. Psychiatry is indeed not even the only subspecialty among physicians who treat mental health problems. Far more prescriptions for selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs, used to treat depression) originate from family medical practitioners than from psychiatrists. And, increasingly, nurse practitioners – who recently, in this state and others, received prescription powers within narrow confines (“advanced nurse practitioner” AS 08.68.410) – also prescribe psychotropic drugs solely to treat mental health problems.
Not all this seeming confusion is harmful: Alliances are often formed between different mental-health professionals for the treatment of a common patient. The most common alliance is the joint treatment by a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist, such as a psychologist, marital and family therapist, or social worker specializing in individual therapy. The arrangement allows a patient to receive individual therapy from a licensed therapist – which is necessary because insurance companies, by often refusing to reimburse psychiatry expenses, have eliminated the exclusive therapy province of psychiatrists. It also allows the patient to receive drug therapy and, if needed, hospitalization, from the only mental health care provider able to provide those services, the psychiatrist.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.