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Wed Apr 18 18:51:31 BST 2007

Just as teachers can no longer discipline children in their classrooms for fear of retribution - either physical or legal - by "indignant" parents, I have no doubt that so too were the professors in this case handcuffed by similar concerns/fears.  Good faith be damned when you are faced with the concerns of keeping your job and feeding your family, not to mention the fact that in cases just like this, you often fear for your own safety and the safety of those you care about.

Sad. Very sad.

>>> <Krin135 at aol.com> 4/18/2007 11:30 AM >>>

In a message dated 4/18/2007 10:11:07 AM Central Daylight Time,  
artlam at u.washington.edu writes:

It would  have affected the shooter in the Virginia Tech tragedy.  He walked  
into the gun shop, during regular business hours and legally purchase a  
weapon. I might point out that no one is an outlaw until he or she commits  
his first offense.  Unfortunately the results of the first offense  can be so 
tragic!

and this is a system failure...where folks at the school who recognized  that 
the young man was troubled were not able to get him to understand that  he 
needed help...and for what ever reason, they were not able to figure out the  
procedures to get him help without his consent.

It's always a difficult situation when a patient is gravely disturbed but  
has not yet committed a significant act or become gravely disabled. In Tennessee 
 and Louisiana, any licensed physician was authorized to evaluate a patient 
and  refer them for an involuntary psych eval (generally a 72 hour hold). Here 
in  Missouri, we have to present the information to a judge who then does a 96 
hour  judicial commitment. In all three cases, the standard is that the 
examination is  done and opinion is issued in 'good faith,' and does not require 
formal  psych training.

I don't know what the situation is in Virginia, but I suspect that the  
student health system, if they had been fully aware of the situation, might  have 
been able to arrange some sort of an evaluation even under uncooperative  
circumstances. At this point, sadly, we will never know if that would have  helped.

ck
Charles S. Krin, DO FAAFP

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