The Berkeley Murder that Changed America
Prosenjit Poddar, a Dalit Bengali student at UC Berkeley, fell in love. What followed would transform medical law.
The critically acclaimed Broadway play Job opens with a young woman in a therapist’s office in San Francisco, pointing a gun at him. As he speaks to her, she eventually puts the gun down and shares her story. At a certain point, she asks if he will report her to the police. He tells her that doctor-patient confidentiality protects most things. But, if she intends to harm someone, he must inform others — thanks to that Indian Berkeley student all those years ago.
The therapist, Loyd, is referring to Prosenjit Poddar. He and Tatiana Tarasoff met like other young people. It was 1968, and the two were dancing at an international house on UC Berkeley’s campus. It was here, during a folk dance class, that two lives would intersect with tragic consequences. On October 27, 1969, exactly 55 years ago, Poddar would forever change the American mental health system.