Getting Friendly With Patients? Be Wary of Risks
What are the ethical considerations for physicians who develop friendships with their patients? Both The American College of Physicians (ACP) and The American Medical Association (AMA) have broad ethical guidelines stating that physicians generally “should not treat themselves or members of their immediate families."
In smaller, isolated communities, however, physician-patient friendships sometimes develop out of necessity. Margaret R. McLean, PhD, a senior fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, says this is one of the exceptions to “rules” regarding these allegiances. “If you’re the only cardiovascular surgeon for hundreds of miles, then friendships fall into a different context,” she says. “The same holds true in an emergency. If your friend is potentially having a heart attack and you can do CPR, then of course you will do that.”
Margaret McLean, senior scholar, quoted by Medscape.