Five suicides likely preventable in Danish psychiatric care scandal, compensation board rules

A Danish patient compensation board has concluded that five suicides among patients at Randers Regional Psychiatry could likely have been prevented with proper treatment, according to a new report obtained by public broadcaster DR.

The findings come as part of 160 resolved compensation claims stemming from a scandal that erupted after a senior psychiatrist was dismissed and accused of failing to meet professional standards. In addition to the five deaths, the board determined three suicide attempts could also have been avoided with adequate care.

Jane Alrø, secretary general of advocacy group Better Psychiatry, called the findings deeply disturbing. “It moves me profoundly that families now have official recognition that their loved ones would likely still be here today if they had received the right treatment,” she said.

The compensation board has so far processed 178 claims, granting 27 and rejecting 133, with 18 cases still under review. The 17% approval rate far exceeds the national psychiatric average of around 10%, suggesting systemic failures, according to Kent Kristensen, a health law lecturer at Aalborg University.

“While the former senior psychiatrist clearly played a central role, these numbers point to broader institutional failures,” Kristensen said. He noted that the high concentration of preventable suicides over a short period was particularly alarming.

Regional council chairman Anders G. Christensen (Conservative) called the findings “unbearable” for the families affected. He acknowledged that warnings from patients, relatives, and staff dating back to 2019 were not acted upon until a whistleblower came forward in January 2024.

“The region did not handle these warnings adequately,” Christensen admitted, adding that psychiatric services have since been restructured to improve responsiveness to concerns.

The former senior psychiatrist, while declining to comment on specific cases, disputed that the compensation figures alone proved systemic failure. He suggested the high number of claims may have been influenced by encouragement to seek compensation and noted that no suicides occurred in his direct unit during his tenure.