Professional Boundaries: What to Do When Clinicians Ask Other Clinicians to Prescribe Medications for Them

In this episode of JAMA Professionalism: Best Practice, Edward H. Livingston, MD looks at the case of a physician requesting prescription medication from a colleague to examine professional boundaries between physicians and options for managing those boundaries. Shiphra Ginsburg, MD and Wendy Levinson, MD, authors of the related article, join Dr Livingston to discuss the best options for handling this challenging situation. Arthur S. Hengerer, MD, chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards discusses the legal and licensure ramifications of physicians prescribing for other clinicians and Kate E. Engelhardt, MD, and D. Brock Hewitt, MD, MPH, practicing physicians, relate their experience with other clinicians asking them to prescribe medications.