Newspaper

My dinner conversation with SP continued.

“You know, we are in business and are not free to do whatever we want – even if something is legal. Our legal advisors often ask: Can you pass the newspaper test?” The company president sighed.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Simple. Before you do anything, just ask yourself: Can you defend your action if it is reported on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow?” She explained.

I was chilled. All of a sudden a piece of classical teaching on clinical practice flashed across my mind.

If you are not sure what you do is correct or not, just ask yourself: Can you defend your action if it comes up to the court?

In no time I realize medical practice has also moved to the era of doing this newspaper test to ourselves. After all, we are really at risk of having what we do on the front page of morning papers.