Medical advice is the giving of a formal professional opinion regarding what a specific individual should or should not do to restore or preserve health. Typically, medical advice involves giving a diagnosis

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...

, prescribing

Medical prescription

A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....

 a treatment for medical condition.

Medical advice is given in the context of a doctor-patient relationship

Doctor-patient relationship

The doctor-patient relationship is central to the practice of healthcare and is essential for the delivery of high-quality health care in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The doctor-patient relationship forms one of the foundations of contemporary medical ethics...

. A licensed healthcare professional can be held legally liable for the advice he or she gives to a patient. Giving bad advice may be considered medical malpractice

Medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...

 under specified circumstances.

Medical advice can be distinguished from medical information, which is the relation of facts. Discussing facts and information is considered a fundamental free speech right and is not considered medical advice. Medical advice can also be distinguished from personal advice, even if the advice concerns medical care.

See also

• Physician
  Physician
  A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
  
  
• Against medical advice
  Against medical advice
  Against Medical Advice, or AMA, sometimes known as DAMA, Discharge Against Medical Advice, is a term used with a patient who checks himself out of a hospital against the advice of his doctor. While it may not be medically wise for the person to leave early, in most cases the wishes of the patient...
  
  
• Duty of care
  Duty of care
  In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence. The claimant...
  
  
• Standard of care
  Standard of care
  In tort law, the standard of care is the degree of prudence and caution required of an individual who is under a duty of care.The requirements of the standard are closely dependent on circumstances. Whether the standard of care has been breached is determined by the trier of fact, and is usually...
  
  
• Scope of practice
  Scope of Practice
  Scope of Practice is a terminology used by national and state/provincial licensing boards for various professions that defines the procedures, actions, and processes that are permitted for the licensed individual. The scope of practice is limited to that which the law allows for specific education...
  
  
• Medical direction
  Medical direction
  Medical Direction, or Online Medical Direction, allows a Paramedic or Emergency Medical Technician to contact a physician from the field via radio or other means to obtain instructions on further care of a patient...
  
  
• Legal advice
  Legal advice
  In the common law, legal advice is the giving of a formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law by an officer of the court , ordinarily in exchange for financial or other tangible compensation...