The State

The State

The fundamental legal relationship is between the physician and the state and federal governments. In the United States, most of the law governing medical practice, exclusive of payment issues, is state law. The legal status of physicians is created by state law. (In contrast, the licensing of pilots is a creature of federal law.) It is the state laws that allow the practice of medicine and restrict it to physicians. While this monopoly is frequently taken for granted, there is no legal principle that would prevent a state from allowing a nurse or a layperson to practice medicine.

The physician owes the state certain duties in return for the right to practice medicine: the duty to protect the public health, the duty to practice competently, the duty to practice within the constraints established by the state laws, and the duty to help ensure that other physicians maintain proper standards of medical practice.

Law and the Physician Homepage
Copyright 1993 - NOT UPDATED
The Climate Change and Public Health Law Site
The Best on the WWW Since 1995!
Copyright as to non-public domain materials
See DR-KATE.COM for home hurricane and disaster preparation
See WWW.EPR-ART.COM for photography of southern Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina
Professor Edward P. Richards, III, JD, MPH - Webmaster

Provide Website Feedback - https://www.lsu.edu/feedback
Privacy Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/privacy
Accessibility Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/accessibility

Home

Climate Change Project

Table of Contents

Courses

Search

The State