More on the tragic case from Australia in which a man tortured, raped, and then killed his own daughter, after having been released by psychiatrists who felt he was safe.
For us, this raises many questions on the basic ability of psychiatrists to fulfill their public safety function. Apparently, it wasn't just a single psychiatrist that passed him for release, it was a whole team.
The solution is not to drug everyone just in case something weird might happen. The solution is not some diagnosis based on unscientific subjective tests. You should be able to use a combination of objective tests (blood chemistry, etc) to make a factual diagnosis. And Psychiatry has no such set of procedures.
As seen in this report from the Sydney Morning Herald.
A mentally ill man who was discharged from hospital before allegedly raping and murdering his 10-year-old daughter would likely have been cleared by a team of medical professionals.
The 39-year-old Bardon man, who cannot be named, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with the rape, murder and indecent treatment of his daughter, who was found dead in a Bribie Island house earlier this week.
He was remanded in custody awaiting a mental health assessment at a correctional centre.
The man's solicitor, Neil Lawler, said his client had been under an involuntary treatment order for mental illness and was released from the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital on December 22.
A senior psychiatrist at the Royal Brisbane Hospital yesterday said the treatment of patients on involuntary treatment orders (ITOs) was usually administered by a team of psychiatrists, registered mental health nurses, trainee psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and social workers.
Dr David Acorn said he could not speak specifically about the 39-year-old's case but usual procedure at the hospital meant a number of health professionals were required to authorise a patient's discharge.
"The decision would be made in a team context, or if not the whole team, the senior psychiatrist in consultation with a trainee psychiatrist and other professionals," Dr Acorn said.
He said the treatment of patients on ITOs was a staggered process that involved regular monitoring.
"It involves a process of not only their clinical state but also their risk factors - their risk factors to themselves and their risk factors to other people.
"As their illness settles ... we would then give them small amounts of leave - intially grounds leave in the grounds of the hospital - to see how the patient responded to that," he said.
A patient would then get longer and longer periods of leave, including day-leave, before being disharged from hospital on the advice of a senior psychiatrist and other professionals, Dr Acorn said. He made the comments as acting Premier Paul Lucas announced an over-arching, independent inquiry into the 10-year-old girl's death.
Mr Lucas said Children's Commissioner Elizabeth Fraser would conduct the probe and the heads of all relevent government departments would be instructed to cooperate.
"I told (Ms Fraser) I want a proper job, not a rush job," he said.
Queensland Health on Wednesday said it did not alert the Department of Child Safety about the 39-year-old man's mental health problems because he was not seen as a potential risk.
The Department of Child Safety said it knew the family as a result of "low-level concerns", which did not meet the threshold for an official notification.
However, it had no knowledge of the father's mental health status.
Health Minister Stephen Robertson yesterday said if a systemic problem was found as part of his department's review, the Health Quality and Complaints Commission, crime watchdog the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) or the Queensland Medical Board could be called in.
"As far as Queensland Health is concerned, this matter will be exhaustively and appropriately investigated,'' Mr Robertson said.
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