Napier and Wheat's Recovering Damages for Psychiatric Injury

by Wheat, Kay

• ISBN13: 9781841741338
• ISBN10: 1841741337
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-07
• Publisher: Blackstone Press

Summary

There have been major developments in the law regarding personal injuryclaims relating to psychiatric injury. This title surveys the current state ofthe law, and includes analysis of Alcock, Page v Smith and White. It includes anoverview of the major psychiatric conditions resulting from trauma, particularlypost-traumatic stress disorder. The book considers how to identify a potentialpsychiatric injury case; illustrates the practical and procedural steps; andprovides a survey of quantum of damages. The new edition is brought up to datewith reference to the Civil Procedure Rules.

Author Biography

Kay Wheat is a solicitor and Senior Lecturer in Law at Nottingham Trent University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Mr Justice Wright
Acknowledgments	xii
Preface	xiii
Table of Cases	xv
Table of Statutes	xxvii
Table of Statutory Instruments	xxx
Introduction	1	(4)
The Legal Context	5	(38)
Negligence	7	(11)
Other Areas of Tort	18	(1)
Injuries Caused by Intentional Acts	19	(4)
Compensation for Criminal Injuries	23	(4)
Contract	27	(1)
Ordinary Mental Distress	28	(4)
Nervous Shock in English law: A Brief History	32	(11)
The Injury	43	(31)
Classification of Mental Disorders	46	(4)
Aetiology	50	(2)
History of the Illness	52	(1)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	53	(7)
Other Disorders	60	(5)
Predisposition	65	(1)
Diagnosis	66	(2)
Treatment	68	(3)
Prognosis	71	(1)
Children	71	(1)
The Future	72	(2)
Identifying the Claimant as a Sufferer	74	(14)
The Importance of Identification	74	(2)
Identifying Symptons of Psychiatric Injury	76	(2)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	78	(2)
The Effect of Psychiatric Injury on Physical Injuries	80	(1)
Use of Questionnaires for Assessment	81	(1)
Genuineness of Symptoms	82	(3)
The Child Victim	85	(3)
The Shock Cases	88	(31)
The `Shocking' Criterion	88	(1)
Primary Victims	89	(7)
Secondary Victims	96	(14)
Rescuers	110	(5)
The `Mere Bystander'	115	(1)
The Tortfeasor who Causes or Threatens Self-Injury	116	(1)
Psychiatric Injury Caused by Damage to Property	117	(2)
The Non-shock Cases	119	(24)
Introduction	119	(1)
Statutory Bodies in Relation to the Performance of Their Duties	120	(13)
Breach of Confidence	133	(1)
Toxic Trauma and Fear for the Future	134	(5)
Acquiring Information Other than Through the Unaided Senses of the Claimant	139	(4)
Psychiatric Injury and Employment	143	(31)
Introduction	143	(2)
Occupational Stress and the Duty and Standard of Care	145	(10)
Liability of the Employer for Damaging Interventions	155	(2)
The Course of Employment	157	(1)
Defences	158	(1)
The Employer's Statutory Duties	159	(2)
The Implied Contractual Terms	161	(5)
Statutory Unfair Dismissal	166	(2)
Discrimination and Harassment	168	(6)
Assessing Damages	174	(51)
The Once-and-for-all Rule	175	(1)
Provisional Damages	175	(1)
Effect of Illness or Accident Supervening before Assessment of Damages (Novus Actus or Novus Causa)	176	(2)
Damages where there is a Pre-existing Condition	178	(1)
Certainty of Loss	179	(1)
Remoteness of Damages	179	(6)
General Damages	185	(2)
Special Damages for Pecuniary Loss	187	(1)
Other Damages	188	(2)
Mitigation of Loss	190	(1)
Level of Damages	191	(21)
The Herald of Free Enterprise Arbitration Awards	212	(13)
Practical Steps	225	(20)
Limitation	226	(5)
Delay after Issue of Proceedings	231	(1)
Disclosure of Documents	232	(3)
Interim Payments	235	(2)
Disclosure of Medical History	237	(1)
Medical Evidence	238	(4)
Pleadings	242	(1)
Trial	242	(1)
Costs	243	(1)
Arbitration	244	(1)
Future Developments	245	(11)
Shock Cases	245	(9)
Non-shock Cases	254	(1)
The Physical/Psychiatric Distinction: Medical Developments	254	(2)
Appendix 1. Diagnostic Criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder from DSM-IV--TR	256	(6)
Appendix 2. Treatment Providers	262	(6)
Appendix 3. Selected Reading	268	(5)
Index	273