Forthcoming · October 7, 2026
When Healing Harms
The Doctor Who Put a Hospital on Trial—and the Case That Shook Psychiatry
In 1979, Dr. Raphael Osheroff—a successful physician—entered Chestnut Lodge, a prestigious psychiatric hospital, seeking treatment for depression. Seven months later, he emerged emaciated, with blackened feet from compulsive pacing, unable to use utensils, having lost forty pounds. His doctors had refused to prescribe antidepressants that were already standard treatment for his condition. When he finally received medication at another hospital, he began recovering within weeks.
His subsequent lawsuit initially seemed like a victory for evidence-based medicine over outdated therapeutic dogma. But the dispute cut deeper—it revealed a profession at war with itself over who decides what constitutes legitimate treatment.
Drawing on more than 120 hours of raw hearing footage, thousands of pages of sealed medical records, legal transcripts, and personal correspondence that no previous scholar examined, this book reconstructs the case from primary sources for the first time in four decades of scholarship.
University of California Press
ISBN 978-0-520-40916-3 (cloth) · 978-0-520-40917-0 (ebook)
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Advance Praise
“In When Healing Harms, Eric Caplan reexamines one of the most influential legal cases in the history of American psychiatry. Osheroff v. Chestnut Lodge has been written about before but never with the care and thoroughness that Caplan brings to the story. What emerges from his research is a poignant medical and legal drama—and a new understanding of a turning point in modern psychiatry and the patient who brought it about.”
“A masterful job... Written with verve and style and using a dazzling array of novel source material, Eric Caplan documents a striking but often misunderstood example of psychiatric malpractice.”
“A fascinating dive into the world of Raphael Osheroff, whose lawsuit over his inept treatment at a famed psychiatric hospital sealed the fate of psychoanalytic models of care for serious mental disorders... an engrossing account that humanizes the person behind the lawsuit, illuminating his suffering and vividly portraying the end of an era in psychiatry.”
“A compelling exploration of all aspects of this story, legal and personal... an in-depth biography of nephrologist Ray Osheroff, telling of how his life was upended by depression and his subsequent legal battles with Chestnut Lodge.”
“A must-read! This book masterfully explores the landmark Osheroff v. Chestnut Lodge case that transformed American psychiatry. Through rigorous research and compassionate storytelling... an invaluable resource for professionals and laypersons alike.”
“Masterful exploration... an urgent meditation on psychiatry’s enduring dilemmas. Through meticulous research, Eric Caplan reveals how even well-intentioned practitioners can inflict profound harm when ideology overshadows evidence... This is more than historical documentation; it’s a roadmap for transcending the destructive binaries that have long prevented truly integrated, humane treatment.”
“Raphael Osheroff’s treatment at and subsequent legal action against Chestnut Lodge are seminal events in the history of modern clinical medicine, not just mental health... With comprehensive access to the medical and legal records and correspondence between the key players, in When Healing Harms Eric Caplan offers the definitive account of the interplay of factors before, during and after the headline events.”
Also by Eric Caplan
Mind Games
American Culture and the Birth of Psychotherapy
Eric Caplan
Mind Games
American Culture and the Birth of Psychotherapy
Eric Caplan’s exploration of Victorian culture in the United States challenges the myth of Freud’s seminal role in the creation of American psychotherapy. By the time Freud first set foot on American soil in 1909, psychotherapy was already integrally woven into the fabric of American culture and medicine.
University of California Press · Medicine and Society Series, Vol. 9
Available on Amazon →