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Curbside Consultation

Physician-Patient Relationships: Obligations and Avoiding Sexual Misconduct Pitfalls

Kevin R. Herrick, MD, PhD
Vladimir Shalkevich, JD

American Family Physician. 2025;111(1):19-22.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

KEVIN R. HERRICK, MD, PhD, Dignity Health Medical Group, Dominican, Watsonville, California; Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California

VLADIMIR SHALKEVICH, JD, California Department of Justice, Health Quality Enforcement Section, Los Angeles

Address correspondence to Kevin R. Herrick, MD, PhD, at kherrickmd@gmail.com.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

  1. 1.Blake V. When is a patient-physician relationship established? Virtual Mentor. 2012;14(5):403-406.
  2. 2.American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics. Chapters. Accessed May 27, 2024. https://code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/chapters
  3. 3.Varkey B. Principles of clinical ethics and their application to practice. Med Princ Pract. 2021;30(1):17-28.
  4. 4.Medical Board of California, Department of Consumer Affairs, State of California. Case #06-2004-161565. January 31, 2008. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www2.mbc.ca.gov/BreezePDL/document.aspx?path=%5cDIDOCS%5c20080131%5cDMRAAABI4%5c&did=AAABI080201001337031.DID
  5. 5.Furrow BR, Greaney TL, Johnson SH, et al. Liability and Quality Issues in Health Care. 6th ed. Thomson/West; 2008:152–283.
  6. 6.American Medical Association Advocacy Resource Center. 50-state survey: establishment of a patient-physician relationship via telemedicine. Updated October 2018. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/2018-10/ama-chart-telemedicine-patient-physician-relationship.pdf
  7. 7.Eastwood GL. When relatives and friends ask physicians for medical advice: ethical, legal, and practical considerations. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24(12):1333-1335.
  8. 8.Federation of State Medical Boards. Physician sexual misconduct: report and recommendations of the FSMB Workgroup of Physician Sexual Misconduct. May 2020. Accessed May 25, 2024. https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/policies/report-of-workgroup-on-sexual-misconduct-adopted-version.pdf
  9. 9.Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association. Sexual misconduct in the practice of medicine. JAMA. 1991;266(19):2741-2745.
  10. 10.Cole-Kelly K. Can friends become patients? [Curbside Consultation]. Am Fam Physician. 2002;65(11):2390.
  11. 11.Politis A, Cook H, Cohen HML, et al. Improving the documentation of chaperones during intimate examinations in a surgical admissions unit: a four-stage approach. Int J Risk Saf Med. 2022;33(s1):S91-S95.
  12. 12.Edelstein L. The Hippocratic Oath: classical version, translated from The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation (in Greek). Johns Hopkins Press, 1943. Accessed May 24, 2024. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_classical.html
  13. 13.Skipper GE, Schenthal S. Part I—special from Missouri Physicians Health Program. Sexual misconduct by professionals: a new paradigm of understanding. Mo Med. 2012;109(3):184-186.
  14. 14.California Legislative Information. Business and professions code: article 10.5 unprofessional conduct; section 726. January 1, 2016. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=726.&lawCode=BPC#:~:text=(a)%20The%20commission%20of%20any,referred%20to%20in%20this%20division
  15. 15.California Legislative Information. Business and professions code: article 10.5 unprofessional conduct; section 729. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=729.#:~:text=(a)%20Any%20physician%20and%20surgeon,contact%20with%20a%20patient%20or

Case scenarios are written to express typical situations that family physicians may encounter; authors remain anonymous. Send scenarios to afpjournal@aafp.org. Materials are edited to retain confidentiality.

This series is coordinated by Caroline Wellbery, MD, associate deputy editor.

A collection of Curbside Consultation published in AFP is available at https://www.aafp.org/afp/curbside.

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