Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, MD, JD
Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, MD, JD is the Director of the Center for at Harvard Medical School. She bases her clinical work in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) where she is the director of Law and Ethics at the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior, provides medical oversight for the hospital’s inpatient guardianship team, and practices clinical and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Brendel has served in multiple roles at MGH over the past decade including as medical director of the One Fund Center for Boston Marathon bombing survivors, a psychiatrist on the Law & Psychiatry and Consultation Psychiatry Services, as clinical director of the Red Sox Foundation/ MGH Home Base Program for post 9/11 service members and their families, and as associate director of the MGH-based Harvard Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Brendel is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Brendel graduated with Honors from both University of Chicago Law School and Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her psychiatry residency at MGH and McLean Hospital and a forensic psychiatry fellowship at MGH. From 2006 – 2007, Dr. Brendel was the Edmond J. Safra Faculty Fellow in Ethics at Harvard University. She is also admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. She is a past president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) from 2022 to 2023, of which she is a distinguished fellow. Dr. Brendel is also a past president and fellow of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (2018-2019). She is currently co-opted consultant to the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Ethics Committee and in her sixth of a seven-year appointment to the American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA), of which she presently serves as Vice-Chair.
She is a past chair of the Standards and Ethics Subcommittee of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Ethics Grievances, and Professional Standards and the Ethics Committee of the APA. Her APA service also includes serving as Chair of the APA Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Working Group on Ethics and the APA Bylaws Committee and as parliamentarian to the Board of Trustees. She has also served on the ethics committees of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Dr. Brendel’s clinical practice has focused on patients with complex psychosocial problems, including trauma, dementia, mental illness, homelessness, substance abuse, decisional incapacity, lack of community support, and poverty. This broad work has informed her educational efforts and research interests focusing on issues at the interface of psychiatry, medicine, law, ethics, and human rights. She is an avid teacher and lecturer in both medical and legal settings.
J Nerv Ment Dis
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Front Psychiatry
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Psychosomatics
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J Trauma Stress
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Harv Rev Psychiatry
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Psychosomatics
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Support for Bill S.853, An Act Improving Medical Decision-Making
June 29, 2015
Testimony of Rebecca Weintraub Brendel MD, JD before the Massachusetts State Joint Committee on Judiciary
Few marathon bombing survivors seeking help for 'invisible' wounds
May 18, 2015
The Sun Chronicle
Dr. Rebecca Brendel, Director of the Master’s Program at the HMS Center for Bioethics, on the muted response to counseling services at the One Fund Center.
Future Mastery - HMS Launches Bioethics Masters Program
April 22, 2015
HMS launches new degree to educate tomorrow’s biomedical ethicists
Dr. Rebecca Weintraub Brendel to Lead Development of New HMS Master’s Program in Bioethics
September 1, 2014
The HMS Center for Bioethics is pleased to announce that effective September 1, 2014, Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, M.D., J.D. will be joining the Center to lead the development of a new Master’s Program in Bioethics.
Capacity, Finances, and the Elderly
December 12, 2013
Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD provides a psychiatrist's perspective in this symposium sponsored by the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior and the Boston Society for Neurology and Psychiatry.
Peer reviewed publications in print or other media
REVIEWS
Brendel RW, Bryan E. HIPAA for psychiatrists. Harv Rev Psychiatry 2004;12(3):177-83.
Brendel RW, Stern TA. Psychotic symptoms in the elderly. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry 2005;7(5):238-41
Brendel RW, Schouten RA. Legal concerns in psychosomatic medicine. Psychiatry Clin North Am 2007;30(4):663-76.
Bostwick JM, Brendel RW, Hicks DW, Steinberg MD. On "Distinguishing among irrational suicide, rational suicide, and other forms of hastened death: implications for clinical practice" by Cavin P. Leeman, M.D. Psychosomatics 2009;50(3):192-97.
Schouten R, Brendel RW. Common pitfalls in giving medical-legal advice to trainees and supervisees. Harv Rev Psychiatry 2009;17(4):291-94.
Guseh JS, Brendel RW, Brendel DH. Medical professionalism in the age of online social networking. J Med Ethics 2009;35:584-86.
Wei M, Brendel RW. Psychiatry and hunger strikes. Harv Human Rights J 2010;23:75-109.
Weintraub Brendel R, Wei MH, Edersheim JG. An approach to the patient in crisis: assessments of the risk of suicide and violence. Med Clin North Am 2010;94(6):1089-1102.
Weintraub Brendel R, Wei MH, Schouten R, Edersheim JG. An approach to selected legal issues: confidentiality, mandatory reporting, abuse and neglect, informed consent, capacity decisions, boundary issues, and malpractice claims. Med Clin North Am 2010;94(6):1229-40.
Austad K, Brendel DH, Brendel R. Financial conflicts of interest and the ethical obligations of medical school faculty and the profession. Perspect Biol Med 2010;53(4):534-44.
Glezer A, Weintraub Brendel R. Beyond emergencies: the use of physical restraints in medical and psychiatric settings. Harv Rev Psychiatry 2010;18:353-58.
Brendel RW, Glezer A. Forensic psychiatry: opportunities and future challenges. Introduction.
Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2010 Nov-Dec;18(6):315-6.
Glezer A, Stern TA, Mort EA, Atamian S, Abrams JL, Weintraub Brendel R. Documentation of decision-making capacity, informed consent, and health care proxies: a study of surrogate consent. Psychosomatics 2011;52:521-29.
Moye J, Sabatino CP, Weintraub Brendel R. Evaluation of the capacity to appoint a healthcare proxy. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2013:21:326-336.
Stevens JR, Jarrahzadeh T, Weintraub Brendel R., Stern T. Strategies for the prescription of psychotropic drugs with black box warnings. Psychosomatics 2014:55:123-133.
Garakani A, Shalenberg E, Burstin SC, Weintraub Brendel R, Appel JM. Voluntary psychiatric hospitalization and patient-driven requests for discharge: a statutory review and analysis of implications for the capacity to consent to voluntary hospitalization. Harv Rev Psychiatry 2014:22(4):241-49.
Ohye BY, Weintraub Brendel R, Fredman S, Bui E, Rauch PK, Allard M, Pentel KZ, Simon N. Three-generation model: A family systems framework for the assessment and treatment of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and related conditions. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol 46(2), Apr 2015, 97-106.
CHAPTERS
Kazim A, Brendel RW. Abuse and neglect. In: Stern TA, Herman JB, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry update and board preparation, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2004. p. 539-44.
Reddick B, Brendel RW, Cassem NH. Treatment decisions at the end of life. In: Stern TA, Herman JB, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry update and board preparation, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2004. p. 517-21.
Schouten R, Brendel RW. Legal aspects of consultation. In: Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry, 5th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2004. p. 349-64.
Cassem NH, Brendel RW. End-of-life issues: principles of care and ethics. In: Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry, 5th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2004. p. 365-87.
Brendel RW. An approach to forensic issues. In: Stern TA, editor. The 10-minute guide to psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. New York: Castle Connolly/ Professional Publishing Group; 2005. p. 399-412.
Brendel RW. A negotiated treatment approach to care: assessment and negotiation. In: Stern TA, editor. The 10-minute guide to psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. New York: Castle Connolly/ Professional Publishing Group; 2005. p. 9-15.
Brendel RW, Brendel DH. Professionalism and the doctor-patient relationship in psychiatry. In: Stern TA, editor. The 10-minute guide to psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. New York: Castle Connolly/ Professional Publishing Group; 2005. p. 1-7.
Brendel RW, Cohen MA. Ethical issues, advance directives, and surrogate decision-making. In: Cohen MA, Gorman J, editors. Comprehensive textbook of AIDS psychiatry. New York: Oxford University Press; 2008. p. 577-84.
Brendel RW, Cohen MA. End-of-life issues. In: Cohen MA, Gorman J, editors. Comprehensive textbook of AIDS psychiatry. New York: Oxford University Press; 2008. p. 567-76.
Brendel RW, Perlis R, Stern TA. Suicide. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J, Rauch SL, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital comprehensive clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby/ Elsevier; 2008. p. 733-45.
Brendel RW, Epstein L, Cassem NH. Care at the end of life. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J, Rauch SL, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital comprehensive clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby/ Elsevier; 2008. p. 821-27.
Milosavljevic N, Brendel RW: Abuse and neglect. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J, Rauch SL, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital comprehensive clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby/ Elsevier; 2008. p. 1133-42.
Schouten R, Brendel RW, Edersheim JG: Malpractice and boundary violations. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J, Rauch SL, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital comprehensive clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby/ Elsevier; 2008. p. 1165-75.
Schouten R, Brendel RW: The role of psychiatrists in the criminal justice system. In: Stern TA, editor. Comprehensive clinical psychiatry. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J, Rauch SL, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital comprehensive clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby/ Elsevier; 2008. p. 1155-64.
Brendel RW, Soulier MF: Legal issues, addiction, and gender. In: Brady L, Back S, Greenfield S, editors. Women and addiction: a comprehensive textbook. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 2009. p. 500-15.
Brendel RW, Wei M, Epstein LA, Cassem NH. Care at the end of life. In: Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry, 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier; 2010. p. 555-64.
Brendel RW, Wei M, Lagomasino IT, Perlis RH, Stern TA: Care of the suicidal patient. In: Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry, 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier; 2010. p. 541-54.
Schouten RA, Brendel RW. Legal aspects of consultation. In: Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry, 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier; 2010. p. 639-50.
Weintraub Brendel R, Schouten R, Levenson JL: Legal issues. In: Levenson JL, ed. American psychiatric publishing textbook of psychosomatic medicine: psychiatric care of the medically ill, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2011. p. 19-32.
Edersheim JG, Weintraub Brendel R, Price BH: Neuroimaging, diminished capacity, and mitigation. In: Simpson, JR, ed. Neuroimaging in forensic psychiatry: from the clinic to the courtroom, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2012. p. 163-94.
Weintraub Brendel R, Green AS, Perlis RH, Stern TA: Suicide. In: Stern TA, Herman JB, Gorrindo T, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry update & board preparation, 3rd ed. Boston, MA: MGH Psychiatry Academy Publishing; 2012. p. 427-430.
Milosavljevic N, Green A, Weintraub Brendel R: Abuse and neglect. In: Stern TA, Herman JB, Gorrindo T, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry update & board preparation, 3rd ed. Boston, MA: MGH Psychiatry Academy Publishing; 2012. p. 543-545.
BOOK
Elder JSJ, Weintraub Brendel R, Rivera Ulwick, J, Dugan JG. Guardianship and Conservatorship in Massachusetts. New Providence, NJ: Matthew Bender (LexisNexis); 2012.