Professional Liability Insurance May Be A Don't Need
- So
is it really smart to practice without professional Liability insurance?
- Why
then do all professional organizations offer professional liability to members?
- What
if I get sued by an unhappy client?
These are three of the “most asked” questions we hear from
practitioners, and while it is an unfortunate truth that anyone can sue anyone
else for pretty much any reason, there are several factors that come into the
equation, depending on how your practice is structured. While we do not have
room in this brief article to really do justice to this big question, we would
like to offer this simple thought. Keep
in mind that we are not attorneys and you should always discuss legal concerns
with an attorney.
With that said, consider this: For the traditional
naturopath, operating under “secular” authority (as in health freedom
provisions) or lack thereof in States that do not make secular provision for
health freedom, we suggest it is probably “not smart” to operate without
professional liability protection. In this scenario it makes sense to buy a few
hundred dollars a year worth of peace of mind, with the message being; when you play by secular rules, follow
secular standards!
On the other hand providing services under the certification
and licensure of a religious organization such as SMOKH invokes a whole
different set of rules; rules that first and foremost must be in accordance
with the Word. In SMOKH’s case, practitioners are not considered to be
providing services in a doctor/practitioner to patient/client relationship;
services are considered a “sharing” of natural health. This interpretation
removes some of the thinking that there exist a “liability” one to the other,
as is in accordance with the Word each is responsible for his or her own
decisions and actions (personal responsibility). Because even the Church must
not turn a blind eye to the fact that we live in a very litigious society, practitioners
and members must “contract”, through informed consent, full disclosure, and the
terms of private expressive association to follow scripturally valid practices
in the resolution of any disagreement, and we clearly specify those steps in
our agreements. The exclusive recourse for unhappy members is arbitration. To
“sue”, or take the complaint judicial is to “breach” this contract. As far as
we can tell “contract” law has been held valid and enforceable in all U.S.
States and as many superior courts have upheld, courts have limited ability to
“judge” religious activities. We operate exclusively as a religious
organization because it is our sincerely held belief that the authority over
natural health is God, he is after all the author of the human instruction
manual!
The bottom line is, it seems that donating a few hundred
bucks annually to an insurance company makes a lot of sense if you are a
secular practitioner playing by secular rules, and little sense if you operate
under well structured agreements and Christian personal responsibility such as
offered through SMOKH certification and licensure. Truth is, for such
religious credentialed individuals, seeking secular liability insurance might
be a contradiction to what they stand for, and complete disregard for their commitment
to personal responsibility.