Discuss what the federal governments role should be in regulating physician speech whether it be in the context of physician non-disclosure agreements, mandated reporting under chemical endangerment laws, or compelled speech via state political power and agenda.

This article is for a healthcare regulations law course. The paper should discuss how the law regulates physician to patient speech by compelling physicians to disclose information to patients that may be ideologically-based as opposed to evidence or experience-based (i.e. abortion), compelling physicians to disclose information regarding private disclosures by patients to some third party (i.e. reporting cases of maternal substance use), or by limiting physician speech in terms of questioning patients (i.e. questioning patients about gun ownership) or disclosing information derived from third parties to patients (i.e. non-disclosure agreements related to trade-secrets of fracking chemicals). The paper should begin with a legal background of federal/state regulation of physician speech with emphasis on the first amendment and the “practice of medicine” statutes. Also address why physician-patient communication is unique from other forms of speech and why this communication ought to be protected. Exploration of the public health implications, both good and bad, to regulating physician speech with an emphasis on those particular examples used above. Finally the paper should discuss what the federal governments role should be in regulating physician speech whether it be in the context of physician non-disclosure agreements, mandated reporting under chemical endangerment laws, or compelled speech via state political power and agenda.