What Is a Duty to Warn?
Duty to warn describes the legal responsibilities of certain identified parties toward others, where they must specify risk or danger. This term is most often used with mental health clinicians, but other parties may have a duty to warn people too. For instance, manufacturers may have to tell consumers about risks posed by using a product; e.g. every baby toy that poses a choking hazard usually has to make this clear on its packaging. Alternately people who rent property to others may have a responsibility toward renters and might need to inform them of potential risks of renting property like the presence of lead paint in older homes.
