Lindsay Clancy Trial Grills Psychiatrist Over Care

The Lindsay Clancy trial turned sharply Monday as the defense spent hours attacking the psychiatrist who treated the Massachusetts mother before she killed her three children in Plymouth. Defense lawyer Kevin Reddington pressed Dr. Jennifer Tufts on her qualifications, her prescribing choices and the fact that she had only recently started working in private practice when she began seeing Clancy.

Tufts was on the witness stand for a second day and faced pointed questions about her background and treatment of Clancy, who first met her on Sept. 15, 2022. The doctor, 36, acknowledged that Aster Mental Health was her first job after residency and that she had been there for about a month when she began treating Clancy. Reddington suggested that presenting herself as an expert in postpartum care with so little time in the role was misleading, but Tufts replied that she did not believe she had been negligent and said she had described postpartum care as an area of interest rather than an expertise.

Reddington also pressed Tufts on the medications she prescribed, especially Zoloft, an antidepressant known to cause insomnia in some patients. He argued that Clancy was already dealing with anxiety and severe sleep problems and questioned why the psychiatrist would choose a drug with that possible side effect. Tufts answered that patients respond differently to medications and said Zoloft is considered a first-line treatment for anxiety. She said Clancy stopped taking it after eight days, following what the doctor described as intolerable symptoms after her dosage was increased.

The testimony laid out a picture of a young mother in crisis over several months. Tufts’ notes reflected that Clancy was crying all day before one appointment, had brain fog, racing thoughts, anxiety and feared suicidal thoughts. Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse on maternity leave after the birth of her third child, son Callan, also told the doctor she was terrified to start the medication. Tufts said she told Clancy to stop taking it right away and talked through other treatment options. When Reddington asked whether that had made her concerned, Tufts said it had.

The defense also focused on the way Clancy was treated. Reddington noted that Tufts saw her only by video at first and later asked whether she ever examined her in person before testifying this week. Tufts replied that psychiatrists do not normally hug patients, after the lawyer asked whether she had given Clancy one during telehealth visits. The cross-examination aimed to show that Clancy’s care was fragmented and that the doctor never had a full in-person picture of her condition during the months before the killings.