Case of the Month: Lessons from the “X” Files 

Written by: Crystal M. O'Brien, Esq.

This first edition of ‘Lessons from the “X” Files’ highlights a question submitted by one of our dermatology clinic clients: What do you do with an employee who offers to sell a patient discounted medical products from her car?

After struggling with whether or not to immediately confront the employee, the employer contacted our Human Resources Department to determine the best and most effective path to establish if this employee was stealing and reselling products without a physician’s authorization. Since patient privacy rights were at risk, the question was referred to MMC’s Labor and Employment Law Department.  After interviewing critical parties, the employee was confronted with key facts and asked to reconcile inconsistencies. Within that discussion, the employee resigned without notice. Weeks later, the client discovered its concerns were not in vain. Not only had the employee been ordering products without the physician’s knowledge, it was also discovered that the employee had been collecting money from patients and scheduling  botox injection “parties” which apparently she intended to perform. Apparently, the employee was unlawfully practicing medicine and misrepresenting her knowledge, training, and abilities as a staff member! Had she been able to continue on this path, she no doubt would have jeopardized the clinic’s good standing and the manager-physician’s medical license. 

In this scenario, the employer acted correctly to take steps to follow-up on this patient complaint. Arguably, the employer retains a professional and ethical responsibility to also report the incident to state medical board agencies. The employer can also extend courtesies to patients who, unknowingly, were misled by this employee and provide information on how to contact the Attorney General for prosecuting this wayward employee. Moreover, making sure that steps are taken to implement checks and balances to ensure no employee can order products and/or resell any products sold by the employer to others is also recommended. In short, this ending is happy in that this employee was stopped in her tracks. 

To submit your workplace questions or to learn more about what you can do to avoid problems like the ones described above, contact us at (800) 899-MMCI (6624), extension 5130. 

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