Should doctors treat their family, their friends and themselves?

Registration as a medical practitioner confers rights and responsibilities. Being a doctor also gives rise to both privileges and burdens. Some of these are legal, while some of them arise through custom and practice.

One of the privileges of medical practice has been the ability to have greater insight into the health of those close to you, and to ensure that they are able to receive the best available advice and treatment. The issue considered in this article is how far this privilege can be taken in the context of providing medical care to family members.