Coming October 7, 2026
When Healing Harms
The Doctor Who Put a Hospital on Trial—and the Case That Shook Psychiatry
A successful physician enters a prestigious psychiatric hospital. Seven months later he emerges emaciated, unable to use utensils, having lost forty pounds—not because treatment failed, but because it was withheld. The case that followed reshaped American psychiatry. This is its story, told accurately for the first time.
Pre-order now:
University of California Press
Advance Praise
A poignant medical and legal drama—and a new understanding of a turning point in modern psychiatry.
Peter Kramer, MD
bestselling author of Listening to Prozac
A masterful job... Written with verve and style and using a dazzling array of novel source material.
Andrew Scull, PhD
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, UC San Diego
A fascinating dive into the world of Raphael Osheroff... an engrossing account that humanizes the person behind the lawsuit.
Paul Appelbaum, MD
Columbia University; Past President, American Psychiatric Association
About the Author
Eric Caplan is a historian of American psychiatry whose work explores the institutions, ideologies, and power dynamics that shape mental health care. An award-winning teacher who has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, and Wesleyan University, he brings both rigorous scholarship and lived experience with depression to his writing.
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