# Been watching "Doc Martin", and now I have a question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632 "2009-04-01T20:31:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/1 "2009-04-01T20:31:08Z")
I love the English series _Doc Martin_, which is being shown here in the U.S. on public television stations. It’s about a doctor who moves from London to practice in a small village in Cornwall. It’s somewhat reminiscent of _House_ in that he’s rather a curmudgeon, yet he’s a good doctor and contrives to save the day or solve a mystery by the end of each episode. The actor, Martin Clunes, does a great and funny job with the character. Now my question: Doc Martin is shown treating his own aunt in his examination room and a woman who is halfway towards being his girlfriend. He’s a tremendous stickler for proper procedure, yet neither he nor anyone else says a word about conflict of interest in his treating relatives and significant others. Here in America, someone’d be getting huffy about that. Is the law different in England? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/2 "2009-04-01T20:39:06Z")
Is it really illegal in the U.S? I thought treating them was fine, you just weren’t allowed to bill through insurance for it, or prescribe narcotics. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/3 "2009-04-01T21:14:09Z")
But even if it’s not illegal, it’s iffy and perhaps the OP means this character wouldn’t do anything “with even the appearance of impropriety”. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/4 "2009-04-01T21:35:34Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Is it really illegal in the U.S? I thought treating them was fine, you just weren’t allowed to bill through insurance for it, or prescribe narcotics. Now that you mention it, I don’t know. I guess I always assumed it wasn’t done for conflict of interest reasons. Also, I thought it was completely against some code of ethics to date your patients. And yes, **gigi** , Doc Martin certainly wouldn’t do anything “with even the appearance of impropriety”. He’s as straight-laced as they come; he even walks as though he has a stick up his bum. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/5 "2009-04-02T00:32:43Z")
Generally for health professionals the circumstances are taken into account. Ie you have to balance the ethical risks of no treatment at all if no reasonable alternative is nearby, vs giving treatment when a prior relationship is present that might cause a conflict of interest. In the case of a village with no other doctor there, a fair bit of latitude would be given Id think, unless other indicators of impropriety were present. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/6 "2009-04-02T10:11:20Z")
I haven’t seen much of Doc Martin, but I assume he is an NHS (National Health Service) GP? In which case the financial implications of treating relatives wouldn’t be an issue, as they would in the USA, of course. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/7 "2009-04-02T12:34:12Z")
I loved that series, I got it on netflix … I am in horrors that someone might remake it for the US market … I do know in the town my mom lives in there are a few doctors, one does the basic stuff for his family, innoculations, basic exams, basic care. He sent his daughter to the other doc when she hit puberty as he felt she would be more comfortable talking girly stuff with someone other than her father. His son goes to a couple specialists for migraine and chronic pain control and his dad does his diabetes management. There doesnt seem to be any uproar about it, specialist stuff or narcotics are passed off to a different doc. He was my doc when I still lived at home. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/8 "2009-04-02T13:03:42Z")
I think that’s an important part of the mix - what is he treating them for? if it’s routine infectious diseases, like colds or flu, or conditions like diabetes, that are assessed primarily through blood tests, that’s one thing. Matters that require close physical examination, particularly in the nether regions, like doing a pap smear for your aunt or girlfriend - icky, and may well raise ethical issues. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/9 "2009-04-02T13:46:23Z")
Why should it be a conflict of interest? We have the NHS over here: the doctor’s wages come out of generalised taxation. There’d be no problem getting another doctor to do the work, BTW - Cornwall isn’t _that_ remote, unlike, say, one of the Scottish isles. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-watching-doc-martin-and-now-i-have-a-question/491632/10 "2009-04-02T14:53:01Z")
I read the OP to be inquiring about a potential conflict in the sense of contrary to the physician’s code of conduct, rather than in the financial sense?