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Death Child death

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I’m going through a miserable time with the january 4th suicide of a 16yr old i took care of at arms length since she was 3 when her mom left her with her dad. Her grandfather, someone I’ve had a close relationship for 25 years had custody of her for the past 3 years. Arms length means she did not live with us but I was involved in many aspects of her life and she came here often. As we clean her room we are discovering that the place we had set up for her to go to counselling knew about her preoccupation with death and that one of her methods was to jump off a balcony. He lived on the 9th floor of an apartment building. The report is from a virtual assessment with a psychiatrist dated sept 23 of this year. The centre where he paid $165 per appointment never told him of the findings. There was no follow up for the medication she was given. She did not take any more than 6 of the pills since filling it Nov 11.

We want to sue the family doctor, the psychiatrist and the person she was have therapy with For neglecting to inform of the risk.

Anyone reading this think it is wise to do this? Too many rights are given to youth so that the lines of respecting privacy and duty of care get blurred.

Her sister is mentioned in the report as having participated with her in conversations from an early age while living with their violent father, that her sibling would be better off dead. In their young minds things would be better if she died and the other lived. She is showing little shock regarding her siblings death and has said she expected it.

I need help sorting my head out on this. Stuck in confusion and feeling like it must of been horrible to tell the psychiatrist all this and not have anyone safeguard you and secondly being given this report in writing.

This young lady had been here every day in the summer and we engaged happily in many adventures. again in November we did things together. Never in a million years did I see this coming.

The only people who knew were the psychiatrist, her sibling and highly likely her therapist. I feel like they let her down.
 
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We want to sue the family doctor, the psychiatrist and the person she was have therapy with For neglecting to inform of the risk. Anyone reading this think it is wise to do this?
Depends on your country &/or state/province in your country.

In mine, it’s not only illegal (prison time, felony that’s usually walked down to a misdemeanor, but not always) but will also lose you your license to practice (psychology, social work, & psychiatry) if you inform anyone on the planet* about the contents/details of your session without the patient/clients prior approval, if they’re over the age of 12.

**There are mandated reporting laws in my country/state that supersede these laws, but only to selected official avenues (child or adult services, hospitals, and police). Since you’re family/friends? This would be a non-starter as far as laws & prescedent apply. In MY area.

Too many rights are given to youth so that the lines of respecting privacy and duty of care get blurred.
This would be a conversation with a lawyer -or 6- about how to best go about changing the laws themselves, if the laws contradict what you want. Sometimes a lawsuit is the best way to kick that off, sometimes the worst, and sometimes zero sum. Only someone very familiar with the laws in your region would know how the judiciary & legislative branches of your government operate/interact.

I’m going through a miserable time with the january 4th suicide of a 16yr old i took care of at arms length since she was 3
My sincere & deepest condolences. The death of a child in your care / under your protection is shattering. At every level.
 
I am so sorry you are dealing with that. It must be super hard.

As far as suing, I guess give yourself time to think about what you would gain by doing that and what it would cost you (in terms of emotions, time, etc). I know it's super painful to feel like the system failed. My friend's husband recently committed suicide. One of the things my friend is really struggling with is a similar issue. She found out that the treatment center, did not pass on information about his diagnosis and suicide plans to the therapist he saw after he was released. Apparently he would have been put on a whole different treatment plan if the therapist had known).
 
Take time for yourself emotionally first, this will probably take time and not be discrete/ will linger. Then think through most efficacious action for your desired purpose. @Friday probably right - legal advice best.
 
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