<p>So I don't really know how this works. After you've completed residency and you have a medical license, is it legal to prescribe medicine to family members (medicine that they are actually taking)?</p>
<p>I was talking somebody and they said that doctors cannot treat their own family members because of judgment or something like that. I know my doctor used to take his daughter to another doctor for shots and check-ups and stuff. </p>
<p>So if you are a pediatrician, are you not allowed to treat any family...adults or kids?</p>
<p>You are allowed to treat anyone, but treating family members is a bad idea because of possible compromise of clinical judgment by by non-clinical issues. When physicians prescribe medications, they are required to obtain a history and perform a "good faith" examination.</p>
<p>Low-level treamtents (penicillin for your kids' strep) is probably different from more serious ones (open-heart surgery on your mother)?</p>
<p>Both require good faith exams, proper workup and clear thinking. Both have potential serious complications (for example, anaphylaxis for pen allergic kid or fatal missed diagnosis of epiglottitis).</p>
<p>Treating problems outside your expertise is a recipe for trouble.</p>
<p>See the article entitled "To Treat or Not to Treat: The Pediatrician as a Parent" <a href="http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/517386%5B/url%5D">http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/517386</a></p>
<p>Here is a recent case review entitled "A Friend in Need" which discusses treating friends and family.</p>
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[quote]
Physicians are often asked to provide medical advice to friends, family, and colleagues. This might be a brief elevator consultation, a request for a prescription refill, or an office visit combined with socializing or lunch. The more casual nature of these encounters might make it seem that there is less of a duty to uphold the standards of a full doctor-patient relationship, but as the following claim illustrates, that may not be the case.
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thedoctors.com/publications/docadv/2007q3caseclosed.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.thedoctors.com/publications/docadv/2007q3caseclosed.asp</a></p>
<p>You are allowed to treat anyone. But a good doctor would be smart enough not to treat his immediate family because their judgement may be compromised. However,given the declining quality of medical care now, most doctors closely monitor the care of their immediate families when the care is being give by others.</p>