Can I Call Myself a "Consultant"?
Many education and business training programs purport to teach doctors and other health care professionals that they can expand their practice by practicing telemedicine across state lines, or even in other areas of the world, under the guise of calling yourself a “consultant” or “health coach” and by signing a fancy consultant agreement.
Planning to order tests, diagnose illnesses, treat ailments, and prescribe medication (whether taking insurance or not, or getting paid or not), without a license, is a clear violation of the law. License and medical boards, as well as prosecutors, see through this deception and will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law whether you harm someone or not. If you are participating in medical practices that a doctor is licensed to do, then you need a license to practice medicine. It’s simply not a good idea for you to call yourself a health consultant and practice medicine across state lines at the same time.
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Ivermectin and Informed Consent
“Any physician that espouses the use of this should be reported to their State Medical Association.” That is a direct quote from the Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of South Florida; his name is Dr. John Sinnott. Dr. Sinnott’s alarming words were quoted in an article by the Tampa Bay Times just last week, talking about Ivermectin and off-label use. In the article, we learn that both Merck and the CDC recommend against using Ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment.
In Terms of Protecting Yourself...
I know there is some disagreement in the medical community, and I'm not here to take sides or to tell you to stop the use of Ivermectin or to start its use. I know that some of the doctors in my community who follow me believe very strongly in Ivermectin, whereas some, like Dr. Sinnott, very much do not believe in its use for COVID-19. I am here to answer what you need to do about this in terms of protecting yourself so that you're...
Know Your Standard of Care
Today we are covering: what is "standard of care," why it's important to you as a medical professional, and more importantly, how you can stay within your standard of care and make sure that you're not subject to any unwarranted liability.
When Does Duty Call?
Amongst physicians or lay people, they usually talk about malpractice in terms of being any unskilled, bad, or negligent treatment that causes injuries to the patient. That can be an action that you take, or an omission that you do not take, in your care of a patient. So, how do we determine if your actions or omissions are bad, unskilled, or negligent? We come up with a “standard of care.” Before we get to that definition, we have to go backwards and ask, “To win a lawsuit, what does the plaintiff have to prove in order to win?”
In most states, the plaintiff has to establish that the professional owed a “standard of care” or a “duty of care” to that...
Can a Health Coach Order Labs?
"What can health coaches do?" And, more specifically, "Can health coaches order lab tests and interpret them?" These are some of the most frequent questions I get at Functional Lawyer, and today I'm going to give you my answer, some additional information, and what you can do about it if this is something you're planning to implement in your practice.
What Does a Health Coach do?
Before we jump into the details, we first need to define what health coaches actually do and what their job description is. Health coaches are part wellness-expert, part mentor-cheerleader, part accountability-buddy, and part psychological toolbox or life-hacks-giver who assist others to make better choices. Basically, health coaches support and act as behavior-change specialists, and they help bring people out of their ruts or encourage them to change certain habits. Health coaches can be helpful in that they respond in ways that are not judgmental or aggressively negative, especially...
