The right to treatment suit as an agent of change

Right to treatment suits can serve as agents of change in the standards and function of psychiatric institutions. The author evaluated five state psychiatric institutions as an expert witness in right to treatment suits. He found that changes for the better were made in most of these institutions as a result of the suit, whether it was settled or unsettled. Although he enumerates the problems caused by such suits, he concludes that they can be a positive force for improving mental health care.