Question

Discussion Question #3: A source of potential problems for health care practitioners is advertising. Buying print ads, creating radio spots, or sponsoring websites are commonplace activities for today's health care practitioners, which may subject them to a different type of lawsuit. For example, two New Jersey patients sued their physician over the website ads she ran for LASIK eye surgery. The patents claimed the doctor made false or misleading statements in her ads, leading them to believe she would provide all of their treatment. Instead, the patients said a physician, who was not fully licensed, provided their follow-up care. (this practice is generally medically acceptable) The two patients sued the physician under their state's Consumer Fraud Act, an area of law from which physicians have traditionally been exempt. A trial court allowed the suit to proceed , but the state supreme court reversed that decision, preventing the patients from suing the physician for advertising fraud. In your opinion, should health care practitioners be protected from consumer fraud suits over advertising? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Discussion Question #3

Certainly not. There is no need to protect the physician from fraud if there are truthful in their advertising. The physician should not commercialize her profession through false advertising. Giving false, untruthful statement is unethical to the professional conduct. Legal Law sets limits and guidelines for the proper communication of professionals ads. The advertisement should be comprehensive and should not mislead any information to consumers. The Federal Trade Commission Act has provided rules and regulations for physician advertising. The physician has to follow these rules to prevent fraudulent activities. If the physician doesn't follow the rules or misinterpret any information, then they have to be punished under law rather than simply protecting them from State Consumer protection act. Protecting of physician will lead to mistrust of consumers on healthcare.