CIVIL COMMITMENT LAW CHANGES

For those of you who deal with this everyday, this will be familiar, but for those who rarely deal with these issues - read on.

New state legislation took effect on November 11, 2000 that changes the length of time patients can be held involuntarily for psychiatric admissions. According to DMH this law brings Massachusetts more into alignment with other states regarding length of involuntary hospitalization prior to a judicial review, and strengthens due process safeguards.

Previously, in cases of emergency hospitalizations, patients could be held for 10 calendar days at which point the facility could petition the court to have the patient committed for six months. This hearing had to be scheduled within 14 days. This meant these patients could wait for 24 days for a hearing. Now facilities must make that petition within 4 business days (excludes weekends, holidays) and the hearing now has to be scheduled within 4 business days of that request.

Patients can also request an emergency hearing if they believe the admission was the result of abuse or misuse of the admission process. This hearing must be held by the next business day.

Facilities are now required to inform patients upon admission that, upon request, they will contact the Committee for Public Counsel Services which will appoint a lawyer to meet with the patient. Obviously the impact of these changes on inpatient psychiatric facilities, the courts, and patients is expected to be great.

In a related move, DMH recently announced a policy change that only psychiatrists can authorize involuntary admissions of a patient to a psychiatric unit. In the past waivers to this policy had been issued to certain non-psychiatrist physicians. These will expire on 1/1/2001 and will not be renewed.

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