Can Doctors date Patients? The Legal Stance

Can Doctors date Patients? The Legal Stance

Love and medicine can be complicated matters, and Indian Laws seem to only make it more complex.

[1] Sexual/Romantic relations between a doctor and patient have always been believed to be against the law, as the Indian Medical Council(Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 makes Adultery and Misconduct with a patient an offence.

[2] Even some versions of the Hippocratic Oath prohibit sexual relations with a patient.

[3] The definition of Adultery as per the Indian Penal Code(IPC) is itself a poorly termed one, but for simplification, it would mean it is an extra-marital affair. This would imply that consensual intercourse between patient and doctor if they are both unmarried would be legal.

[4] Further the Supreme Court of India repealed the law on adultery completely in 2018, thereby making adultery no more an offence as per the IPC.

[5] Misconduct mentioned in Indian Medical Council(Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 has no set definition provided, thereby making it subjective, and to be decided on a case to case basis.

[6] It is only in 2018, that the Delhi High Court asked the MCI to clarify its stance on Sexual relations between Doctors and patients, as the existing law was ambiguous.

[7] Following this, the MCI(now NMC) has chosen to adopt the guidelines of the Indian Psychiatric Society as its Official position on this matter, and published the same on their official website.

[8] These regulations now clearly state sexual relations between doctor and patient, even if consensual, to be an offence.

[9] Sexual Offences i.e. molestation, rape, etc. are punishable under the respective penal codes.

[10] In addition to punishments set under the penal code, doctors can face additional disciplinary action by medical councils for such offences.

#doctors #indiandoctors #medicolegal #medlegal #medicallaw #medicalethics #medicalnegligence