By HENRY J. STERN

On February 12, David Tarloff murdered Dr. Kathryn Faughey. The sensational case has been widely publicized. Tarloff, a schizophrenic, had a long psychiatric history. His family did whatever they could to get him committed to a mental institution, but he was always found not to be dangerous and released.

There have been articles, columns and editorials written about the case in New York City's dailies.

So far, we have not had many reasonable suggestions about what to do about the problem of released mental patients who commit crimes when they go off the meds which keep them tranquil. We offer the following ideas:

1. There should be a central computerized registry of discharged patients, available to the examining doctor when a former patient is brought in for examination. Does this violate the patient's privacy rights. No more than looking up the rap sheet, fingerprints or DNA of a person accused of a crime. There comes a time when society's rights have to be taken into account as well. In our view, that time has long passed. One aspect of the problem is that these matters are left to mental health professionals, many of them empathize with the patients, who are the people with whom they deal.

2. When a person is brought in for psychiatric examination, he/she should be physically examined as well. We do not know whether this was done in the Tarloff case, but the patient's blood should be tested for medications or their absence.

3. People released from mental hospitals should keep regular weekly appointments with testers, who will check their blood levels. If they do not keep their appointments, they should be returned to the hospital promptly. If they disappear, warrants should be issued for their arrest, and police officers sent out to find them. When they are found, they should go through the criminal justice system, rather than simply being returned and then cut loose again.

4. Judges and district attorneys should be educated as to the potential danger posed by violent mental patients. If Judge Barry Kron received no information indicating that Tarloff was a danger, he cannot be faulted for releasing the man.

5. Where a judge or a doctor makes a finding that someone is not dangerous, he/she should write a memorandum explaining how that decision was reached. The authorities should keep score on how many times such rulings turn out to be erroneous.

6. When Kendra's Law is invoked, the state or city police should track down the suspect, or report in writing why they cannot be found. This work is too important to be left to employees who ring the bell and leave when the patient does not answer.

7. Whenever the police are called in an EDP (emotionally disturbed person) situation, the mental health record of the person causing the disturbance should be available on a computer. This will help the police know what to do, and it may save the patient from being shot.

The secrecy surrounding mental health, the result of old prejudices, stands as an impediment to the appropriate care and treatment of patients. It is also a risk to the larger community which may be put at risk by unsuitably discharged patients. It is common that people are discharged when they are well, and then relapse, just as drug addicts and alcoholics do.

An administration that properly declares war on trans-fats should show equal concern for citizens murdered on the streets, in their offices or homes, or pushed off subway platforms by psychotics who were unwisely discharged and then unsupervised. The courts should co-operate in this effort. It may be more politically correct to go after purveyors of strudel than doctors and hospitals who serve humanity. But a knife stops a beating heart even more quickly than a globule of fat.

Again, we ask for suggestions. This should be an important governmental initiative. Who has the courage to take it on?

StarQuest@NYCivic.org