Law &. Ethics for Medical Careers 5th Edition by Karen Judson,Carlene Harrison

Exercise 8

What would you do in either Ned's or Marie's situation?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Note: A health care practitioner is held to the standard of care practiced by a reasonably competent person of the same profession. A physician assistant using the title "Doctor" and a medical assistant using the title "Nurse" may be held to the standard of care of a physician and a nurse, respectively, and may be accused of practicing without the appropriate license.
A new source of potential problems for health care practitioners is a surprising one: advertising. Buying print ads, creating a radio spot, or sponsoring a Web site was not something most physicians and other health care practitioners did a few years ago. It is more commonplace today, however, and two New Jersey patients took their physician to court over the Web site ads she ran for LASIK eye surgery. The patients did not make any traditional medical malpractice claims. Instead, they claimed the doctor made false or misleading statements on her Web site, leading them to believe that she would provide all of their treatment. Instead, the patients said a physician who was not fully licensed provided their follow-up care. (This practice is generally medically acceptable.) The two patients sued the physician under their state's Consumer Fraud Act, an area of law from which physicians have traditionally been exempt. A trial court allowed the suit to go forward, but the state supreme court reversed that decision, and the patients could not sue the physician for advertising fraud.