The Westfield attacker’s psychiatrist has been savaged over her care — this is what five expert witnesses actually think
The five psychiatrists said she would have had to accept Mr Cauchi's refusal to restart antipsychotic medication.
When tragedy strikes, the inevitable question follows of whether it could have been prevented.
In the case of Joel Cauchi, who killed six people with a 30cm pigging knife at Westfield Bondi Junction last year, that question meant interrogation of his psychiatric care in the years before the attack.
Much of this has focused on the private Queensland psychiatrist who managed Mr Cauchi over a period of seven years, particularly her decision to help him gradually wean off clozapine in 2018 and aripiprazole in 2019.
During this time, Mr Cauchi’s mother raised concerns that her son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2001, was deteriorating, hearing voices and discussing “satanic control”.
