practice partner
Avoiding the Slippery Slope
For any physician, boundary issues can compromise judgment and care
By Stuart Foxman
photo (gift): istockphoto.com/kemalbas
C
onsider this situation: A grateful patient
brings the physician coffee at every
visit. The physician, not wanting to be
rude, graciously accepts. The patient,
a contractor, offers to work for the physician at a
discount. The physician hires him to re-model his
kitchen. Working in the house, the patient gets a
sense of how the physician lives and learns details of
his life. Later, the patient asks for a prescription for
painkillers. He feels that he and the physician are
now buddies. Why would he be turned down?
That’s an example from Dr. Jim Silcox, Professor Emeritus at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University. The
University offers a day-and-a-half course,
recognized by the College, to provide
physicians with guidance on establishing
and maintaining appropriate professional
accepting a small gift from a patient might
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