Man continues legal fight a decade after mother’s suicide linked to flawed psychiatric care
Saturday 6th June 2026 on 18:45 in
Denmark
A Danish man is pursuing further legal action after authorities rejected his claim that psychiatric treatment failures contributed to his mother’s suicide ten years ago, DR reports.
Mathias Drachmann, whose mother was under the care of the regional psychiatric unit in Randers, has spent years seeking accountability. He argues the treatment she received “did more harm than good,” lacking structure and proper support. His complaint to Denmark’s Patient Compensation Association was dismissed alongside 132 others following an investigation into the unit, where a senior psychiatrist was fired for violating treatment guidelines.
Only 27 of 178 reviewed cases were upheld, including five suicides and three suicide attempts deemed potentially preventable. Drachmann, whose claim was rejected, has now escalated his case to the Board of Patient Complaints with private legal representation.
“It’s not about money,” he told DR. “I want it in writing that someone takes responsibility—that the failures I’ve described for years are acknowledged.”
His distrust of the system runs deep. “I don’t have faith in it,” he said, dismissing the value of expert reviews in his case. “They handle thousands of cases with too few people.”
Jane Alrø Sørensen, secretary-general of advocacy group Bedre Psykiatri (“Better Psychiatry”), noted a growing trend of families hiring lawyers to navigate compensation claims, calling the process “opaque and difficult for laypeople.”
The Patient Compensation Association rejected claims of under-resourcing. “We examine every relevant detail,” said Henrik Adamsen, head of its legal division, citing expanded use of independent psychiatric consultants. The former unit head, while declining to comment on individual cases, acknowledged shared responsibility for patients who later died by suicide after discharge.
Crisis support is available in Denmark via Livslinien at 70 201 201 or [livslinien.dk](http://www.livslinien.dk).