Medical Professional Liability in Psychiatry.

Introduction: The safety of patients and the risk of malpractice claims are overriding concerns in medicine and psychiatry.

Material And Methods: Claims for alleged malpractice in psychiatry managed by the Council of Colleges of Physicians of Catalonia between 1986 and 2009 were analyzed to evaluate their clinical and legal characteristics.

Results: Ninety-four malpractice claims were found in a 23-year period, mainly claims related to diagnosis (63.