medical
Medical. Is it legal to treat someone without reporting it to the US government?
<p>I have a friend that wants to treat me, but is highly concerned about doing so "off the clock" if you will. He's an oncologist for a large Hospital and is forbidden from doing work outside of the hospital as it could damage their reputation if a doctor were to "damage" someone outside of work hours. </p>

<p>My main question is aside from his employer, could he legally treat me without reporting back or keeping it off the books? I don't want to get him in legal trouble, but I also don't really know the legalities and procedure of this. He's only been working for the hospital for 2 years and they apparently don't go over legal matters in school. If anyone could point me in the right direction or link me to anything I would highly appreciate it.</p>

<p>"To add to this, he is a fully licensed and certified M.D. / D.O." I didn't want it to sound shady or anything, I just want him to be my private doctor, rather than someone I don't know.</p>

<p>There is no general law requiring a doctor to report to the government that they have given medical treatment. On the contrary, there is a federal rule (the "Privacy Rule") that somewhat requires keeping medical information private. There may be certain instances where a report must be made, such as the obligation to report gunshot wounds or suspected child abuse. There could be entanglements regarding use of drugs that require a prescription, where there is a required paper trail.</p>

<p>In general, he can probably get away with treating you. The risks are:</p>

<p>(1) The hospital finds out somehow and fires him for violating his employment agreement; I would be surprised if they did this over just a single patient.</p>

<p>(2) You sue him for malpractice, in which case his existing insurance might not cover it because it work done outside the hospital. Whether this is a risk depends on the terms of his insurance.</p>

<p>As a general rule, doctors have an ethical duty to help those who they can.</p>
