Bad Karma - Paperback

by Deborah Blum (Author)

A TRUE CRIME THRILLER THAT EXPLORES THE DARKEST REGIONS OF ROMANTIC INFATUATION.THE YEAR: 1969THE SETTING: Berkeley, CaliforniaTHE STORY: Amidst the turmoil of student rebellion two loners encounter each other and turn an innocent flirtation into a dance of death.THE CHARACTERS: Prosenjit Poddar was the brilliant engineering student who wanted nothing more than to return to his native India a big success and to marry a woman of his parents' choosing.Tanya Tarasoff was the na ve coed who just wanted somebody to love.And Larry Moore was the young psychologist who thought he recognized the warning signs that his patient was not just suffering from a jilted love affair... but was about to commit an act of murder.THE STAKES: In a culture clash that pits the traditional values of male-dominated India against free-love attitudes of Berkeley in the '60s, an impending tragedy unfolds. Soon Larry Moore finds himself face-to-face with the biggest dilemma of his career. What does a doctor do if he perceives his patient as mentally unstable and a threat to the well-being of another... but is bound by the oath of doctor-patient confidentiality not to warn the police?This true story tracks Moore's race against time to stop the inevitable.BAD KARMA is more than an anatomy of madness; it is also a chronicle of the events that would culminate in a landmark decision handed down by the California Supreme Court. Known simply as Tarasoff, this 1976 ruling would change the oath of confidentially between therapist and patient, and establish the rule that a mental health professional has the legal duty to protect a threatened individual.

Author Biography

Deborah Blum was a sophomore at U.C. Berkeley when the murder of Tanya Tarasoff occurred. After returning to Los Angeles to work as a documentary writer/director and producer of major Hollywood feature films, she became fascinated by the Tarasoff case and began an investigation that was to last seven years and take her twice to India.