Michigan's common law recognizes a duty of care to third parties who might foreseeably be harmed by a mental health professional's use of techniques that cause his or her patient to have false memories of sexual abuse.

As seen in this Michigan Appellate Court Decision [PDF]

In this suit for malpractice, plaintiffs L### R###### and J### R###### appeal by right the trial court’s order dismissing their claims against defendant, Kathryn Salmi, LPC, who does business as Salmi Christian Counseling. On appeal, we must determine whether a mental health professional, such as a licensed professional counselor, see MCL 330.1100b(16)(e); 333.18101(b),1 owes a duty of care to third persons who might be harmed by the professional’streatment of his or her patients. Specifically, we must determine whether a mental healthprofessional has a duty to third parties (specifically, a patient’s parents) who might foreseeably be implicated in abuse when the mental health professional treats a patient using techniques that cause his or her patient to have false memories of sexual abuse.

For the reasons more fully explained below, we conclude that Michigan’s common law recognizes a duty of care to third parties who might foreseeably be harmed by the mental health professional’s use of techniques that cause his or her patient to have false memories of sexual abuse. Because the trial court erred when it dismissed Lale and Joan Roberts’ claim on the grounds that Michigan does not recognizesuch a duty, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.