Civil Rights of Mentally Ill

The ramifications of the horrifying and tragic murder of Robbyn Panitch, social worker for the Santa Monica County Clinic, have been admirably covered by The Times. The unpardonable lack of governmental support for the treatment of the mentally ill should remain active in the mind of the public.

One factor has been overlooked, however--namely, the folly of extending the civil rights of psychotic individuals to the point where they, despite their poor judgment, can refuse treatment, including medication.

As a psychiatrist who was present at the time Robbyn Panitch was being slashed to death, I am absolutely convinced that the patient who committed the crime would not have done so had he been legally compelled to take anti-psychotic medication. For several weeks, he had refused. Under current laws, there was no way to overrule his refusal.

Similarly, the extant Lanterman-Petris-Short law permits hospitalization of an obviously deluded, hallucinating individual only if the patient demonstrates him/herself to be a danger to self and/or others. This is the reason a befuddled public continues to experience bizarrely acting people wandering aimlessly, potentially dangerously, in city streets.

Empathy for those pathetic patients deprived of judgment and reason, as well as prudence regarding public safety, should compel the state Legislature to alter current laws so that the mentally ill can justifiably be treated against their will. This is not the Soviet Union, where such a law could be abused. Peer review in American medicine has advanced to a point that virtually precludes the possibility of such arbitrariness.

When it comes to the civil rights of the mentally ill, the pendulum has swung to an unsafe extreme. We cannot bring back Robbyn Panitch, but perhaps from the tragedy of her death, great reform can emerge. Let us not only pray, but actively pursue such a memoriam.

ROBERT T. FINTZY, M.D.

Los Angeles