Home

Climate Change Project

Table of Contents

Courses

Search
<< >> Up Title Contents

Treating Family Members

This is probably the most commonly recognized conflict of interest. It has been traditional for physicians to treat their colleagues' families without charge to discourage physicians from treating their own families.[30] This professional courtesy is a recognition that objective decision making is critical to medical care and that this objectivity is impossible for someone who is emotionally involved with the patient. Treating one's own family can lead to disharmony and guilt if the treatment is not successful. Although it is generally not illegal to treat a family member, many states limit the drugs that may be prescribed. Ideally, physicians and their family members will seek care from physicians who are not close friends or colleagues. This helps ensure objectivity and avoids the conflicts inherent in confiding personal information to colleagues or friends.[31]

[30]Wasserman RC; Hassuk BM; Young PC; Land ML: Health care of physicians' children. Pediatrics 1989; 83:319-22.

[31]Lane LW; Lane G; Schiedermayer DL; Spiro JH; Siegler M: Caring for medical students as patients. Arch Int Med 1990 Nov; 150(11):2249.

<< >> Up Title Contents

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