Paul S. Appelbaum
Encyclopedia
Paul Stuart Appelbaum is an American psychiatrist
, and an expert on legal and ethical issues in medicine and psychiatry.
, Columbia College
and Harvard Medical School
, completed his residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Division of Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
.
Appelbaum is credited with conceptualizing the idea of the therapeutic misconception
in which subjects in medical research studies misunderstand the primary purpose of their contact with the research team as treatment.
Appelbaum has been President of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. He developed a theory of ethics for forensic psychiatry.
His areas of particular expertise include the logic and practice of informed consent, the understanding of the influence of law on psychiatry, and the prediction of dangerousness so as to better guide psychiatric practice. His original work with Tom Grisso in the assessment of patient competency has had broad influence for research and better treatment of both civil and criminal patients.
Appelbaum is a frequent media commentator on medical issues.
The New York times describes him as "a professor of psychiatry at Columbia who has published widely on medical ethics and the law."
Appelbaum is married to historian Diana Muir
with whom he has co-authored articles. They have three adult children.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, and an expert on legal and ethical issues in medicine and psychiatry.
Biography
Appelbaum, a graduate of Stuyvesant High SchoolStuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
, Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
and Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, completed his residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Division of Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
.
Appelbaum is credited with conceptualizing the idea of the therapeutic misconception
Therapeutic misconception
Therapeutic misconception arises wherever human subjects misunderstand the primary purpose of a clinical trial as therapeutic. The phenomenon was first described in an article by Paul S. Appelbaum. Appelbaum PS, Roth LH, Lidz C: The therapeutic misconception: Informed consent in psychiatric...
in which subjects in medical research studies misunderstand the primary purpose of their contact with the research team as treatment.
Appelbaum has been President of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. He developed a theory of ethics for forensic psychiatry.
His areas of particular expertise include the logic and practice of informed consent, the understanding of the influence of law on psychiatry, and the prediction of dangerousness so as to better guide psychiatric practice. His original work with Tom Grisso in the assessment of patient competency has had broad influence for research and better treatment of both civil and criminal patients.
Appelbaum is a frequent media commentator on medical issues.
The New York times describes him as "a professor of psychiatry at Columbia who has published widely on medical ethics and the law."
Appelbaum is married to historian Diana Muir
Diana Muir
Diana Muir, also known as Diana Muir Appelbaum, is a Newton, Massachusetts writer and historian. Muir is best known for her 2000 book, Reflections in Bullough's Pond, a history of the impact of human activity on the New England ecosystem....
with whom he has co-authored articles. They have three adult children.
Books
- The Clinical Handbook of Psychiatry and the Law (3rd ed., 2000) with Thomas G. Gutheil.
- Almost a Revolution: Mental Health Law and the Limits of Change (1994).
- Assessing Competence to Consent to Treatment: A Guide for Physicians and Other Healthcare Professionals (1998) with Thomas Grisso.
- Divided Staffs, Divided Selves: A Case Approach to Mental Health Ethics (1987) with Stanley Joel Reiser, Harold J. Bursztajn, and Thomas G. Gutheil.
- Rethinking Risk Assessment (2001) with John Monahan, Henry J. Steadman, Eric Silver, Pamela Clark Robbins, Edward P. Mulvey, Loren H. Roth, Thomas Grisso, and Steven Banks.