The therapist can be charged with ------ for refusing to allow a patient to go to the bathroom prior to starting a therapy treatment session.

• A. Battery.
• B. Neglect.
• C. Fraud.
• D. Incompetence.

Answer: (B)

Neglect is the concept at play here. In a healthcare or therapy setting, neglect means failing to provide or protect a patient from basic needs and safety. Denying a patient permission to use the bathroom before starting a session deprives them of a basic physiological need and reasonable comfort, which can cause harm or discomfort and reflects a lapse in the standard of care expected of a clinician. It’s about the failure to meet essential care needs, not about harming the patient with intentional contact (that would be battery), deception for gain (fraud), or a simple lack of clinical skill (incompetence). So withholding a bathroom break fits as neglect because it concerns failing to support the patient’s basic well-being in a professional setting.