2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VIII - Mental Health (§§ 4001-6151 — 6184) › Chapter 201A - Mental Health Code of 2000 (§§ 6152 — 6166g) › Subchapter II - General Responsibilities of Mental Health Service Providers and General Provisions for Adults and Minors (§§ 6153 — 6153y) › § 6153r - Duty to warn of suicide or self-mutilation risk

(1) When a person communicates to a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or other healthcare professional his/her intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation, or when such professional believes, based on the person’s behavior, that said person might attempt to conduct such actions, the physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or other healthcare professional shall have the duty to warn a family member of the possibility of an attempt to carry out said act. Provided, That in the case of inmates, notice shall be given to the director of the institution where the person in question is confined.
(2) In the event that the intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation is communicated to another mental healthcare professional, said professional shall immediately so notify to the psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or any other healthcare professional in charge of rendering mental healthcare services to the person, and shall so state in detail in the clinical record.
(3) In order for the duty to warn to arise, the physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or any other healthcare professional must:
(a) Having identified and evaluated the existence of an intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation, and
(b) having stated that after taking into consideration the risk factors associated with suicide and self-mutilation, there is a great probability that said intention could be carried out.
(4) Once the intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation is communicated, the physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or any other healthcare professional shall be charged with the duty to warn, and shall carry out the following actions:
(a) Provided it is therapeutically indicated, he/she shall inform the person who states his/her intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation of the duty to warn that he/she has pursuant to this chapter.
(b) Notify a family member of the threat, handling this situation with tact and caution.
(5) In those situations in which the professional believes that the person communicating his/her intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation meets the criteria needed for hospitalization, such professional shall initiate the procedures for voluntary or involuntary hospitalization.
(6) In the event that the intention to commit suicide or self-mutilation is communicated while the person is hospitalized, the physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or any other healthcare professional shall notify the medical director, and shall so state in detail in the clinical record.
(7) Any information entered in the clinical record as per the requirements of this section shall be included in a separate section within the clinical record. This information shall be deemed to be privileged and confidential for disclosure purposes.
(8) When a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or any other healthcare professional determines that a particular situation requires carrying out the duty to warn, he/she shall be held harmless from any civil liability, insofar as there is no gross negligence involved in the discharge of his/her duty. Moreover, mental healthcare professionals who, in good faith, carry out their duty to warn shall not be breaching the physician-patient privilege, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 26 of the Rules of Evidence of 1979, as amended.
(9) Any law enforcement officer (from both the Commonwealth and the municipal police) who has been notified by a mental healthcare professional, a relative, or any citizen, as to the risk or threat posed by a person to harm him/herself or others or to damage property, shall respond as soon as practicable to protect the persons or the property involved.
History —Oct. 2, 2000, No. 408, § 2.19; Aug. 6, 2008, No. 183, § 16.