# Surgeons and family members

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 14, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804 "2002-08-14T07:09:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804/1 "2002-08-14T07:09:03Z")

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Is there an actual law that says surgeons can’t operate on family members? If there is such law, is it that they’re forbidden to do so, or just that they can’t be **forced** to? Does the law vary from state to state? Or is it a hospital policy?

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**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804/2 "2002-08-14T07:56:47Z")

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My sister, a surgeon, will not operate on a familiy member, nor serve as their primary doctor. The reasoning seems to be that a doctor doesn’t want to permanently alienate their own family if there’s a problem.

However that doesn’t stop her from having a major influence treating family medical problems. The impression is that “fellow” doctors, once they know a doctor is in the family, need to get her buy-in. This appears to be a situation doctors commonly encounter, since there’s a whole “social protocol” about it.

Doctors these days are especially concerned about being sued. Once there’s evidence that a patient knows much more about their condition than average, apparently doctors go into “protective mode”, assuming that the patient is far more likely than most to sue. At a guess, doctors in a family don’t want to be put in the position of being in a suit with family members, either.

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**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804/3 "2002-08-14T10:31:01Z")

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IANAD, but I’d also think there would be more tension when you are working on a family member - that you would be stressed about them, and perhaps distracted and not fully focused on what you were doing.

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**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804/4 "2002-08-14T10:40:40Z")

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Well, that’s what I meant, **Lsura**. There seems to be a general acceptance that surgeons will not operate on family members, for that reason, plus what **partly\_warmer** said. I was just wondering if there was an actual law forbidding it.

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgeons-and-family-members/123804/5 "2002-08-14T11:53:18Z")

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There’s a LASIK doctor in the DC area who has operated on his wife. It’s a part of his commercials, saying that he gives everyone the same care as he does his own family members.

LASIK procedures aren’t as extensive as other surguries, but I’d still be nervous laser-sculpting my wife’s eyes.