“Dad’s actually an alcoholic. He shouldn’t be on the road. But he never tells you this stuff. He just says he’s great. Make sure you get his licence cancelled … and whatever you do, don’t tell him I told you this.”

Managing unsolicited information from third parties remains one of the most complex medicolegal issues we deal with.

You may receive opinions about your patient that are impossible to interrogate. Is the person who is offering the information meaning well or being malicious?

If managed poorly, you risk the loss of therapeutic rapport, as well as complaints from the patient, the information provider, or both.