Audrey D. Medd

Audrey Medd (Associate-White Plains, NY) authored “Tarasoff, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and the Duty to Warn: Legal and Clinical Perspectives in 2025,” which appeared in the January 15, 2026, posting of the PLUS Blog. The article examines the evolving Tarasoff duty to warn, the doctrine holding that a mental health professional’s relationship with the patient extends to the victim, creating a duty to exercise reasonable care when aware that the patient intends to harm the victim. Audrey examines divergent state approaches to the scope of mental health professionals’ duty to protect third parties from patient harm, delving into the complexities of aligning Tarasoff duties with contemporary psychiatric science, particularly as related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. She notes, “Failing to incorporate such nuanced understanding risks placing clinicians in a perilous position, caught between the threat of legal liability and the imperative to maintain patient trust. Such an alignment is essential to fostering a legal environment that supports effective psychiatric treatment while safeguarding societal interests.”