North Carolina adds 5 state rules for clinics and medical practices

These are the North Carolina rules whose wording is about licensed practitioners, boards and clinics. They run when North Carolina is selected in the checker.

1. CG-NCA-001 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   North Carolina bars unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. Absolute outcome promises are the classic example, and a physician who makes false representations to obtain money or anything of value faces Medical Board discipline.

   Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 75-1.1(a) - unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce are unlawful; N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-14(a)(8) - false representations to obtain practice, money or anything of value

   Safer wording: Describe what the service involves and what patients have typically experienced, with a source. Do not promise a result.

   N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-14, N.C. Gen. Stat. 75-1.1 · Needs counsel review

2. CG-NCA-002 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   North Carolina lists a physician advertising or publicly professing to treat human ailments under a system or school of treatment other than the one the physician was educated in as grounds for Medical Board discipline.

   Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-14(a)(9) - advertised or publicly professed to treat human ailments under a system or school of treatment other than that for which the physician has been educated

   Safer wording: Describe only treatment within the licensee's education and licence, and avoid condition claims for alternative systems.

   N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-14 · Needs counsel review

3. CG-NCS-002 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   North Carolina makes it a crime for a treatment provider or its marketers to knowingly make a false or misleading statement, with intent to defraud, about whether the provider is in-network or out-of-network. Accepts-all-insurance claims are the usual form and are rarely true.

   Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-113.151(c)(2)a ("The treatment provider's status as an in-network or out-of-network provider")

   Safer wording: Name the plans you are in-network with and tell people to verify benefits before admission.

   N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-113.151 · Needs counsel review

4. CG-NCS-003 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   North Carolina makes it a felony to offer, pay, solicit or receive anything of value, or to split fees, to induce or in return for referring a patient to a substance use disorder treatment provider or laboratory.

   Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-113.152(a)(1) ("to induce the referral of a patient or patronage to or from a treatment provider or laboratory")

   Safer wording: Remove any payment, bonus or fee tied to admissions or referrals. Counsel must review any marketing or referral arrangement with a treatment provider.

   N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-113.152 · Needs counsel review

5. CG-NCS-004 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   North Carolina lets the Board of Dental Examiners discipline a dentist who publishes or disseminates an advertisement for professional patronage that is untruthful, fraudulent or misleading, or that breaks the Board's rules on time, place or manner. Painless, guaranteed and best-dentist claims are the usual targets.

   Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-41(a)(18) ("published or caused to be published or disseminated any advertisement for professional patronage or business which is untruthful, fraudulent, misleading")

   Safer wording: Describe services, credentials and comfort options factually. Drop painless, guaranteed and best-in-town claims.

   N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-41 · Needs counsel review

Sample wording we wrote, run through the engine with North Carolina selected. Only samples where a North Carolina rule fires are shown.

109 federal and general rules matched to clinics and medical practices run next to the North Carolina ones. The ones that weigh most:

1. CG-ABS-003 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Claims of no risk or no side effects are unsubstantiated safety claims.

   Source: FTC Act section 5; FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance; 21 CFR 202.1 (prescription drug advertising, fair balance)

   Safer wording: State known risks and side effects fairly, or say who should talk to a clinician first.

   21 CFR 202.1 · Needs counsel review

2. CG-CSR-001 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Prescribing a controlled substance without a real evaluation, records or follow-up violates the Controlled Substances Act and DEA telemedicine rules.

   Source: 21 U.S.C. 829 and 841(h); 21 CFR 1306.04 (prescription issued for a legitimate medical purpose); 21 CFR 1306.05 (manner of issuance, so a prescription must carry the patient and practitioner details); FTC Act section 5

   Safer wording: Do not advertise controlled substances. A licensed clinician must decide whether to prescribe after a real evaluation.

   21 CFR 1306.04, 21 U.S.C. 829, 21 CFR 1306.05 · Needs counsel review

3. CG-DEA-003 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Offering to fill a prescription for a controlled substance based only on an online questionnaire is a listed example of an internet distribution violation.

   Source: 21 U.S.C. 841 subsection (h) lists offering to fill a controlled substance prescription based solely on a consumer's online medical questionnaire as an example of a violation

   Safer wording: Do not tie a controlled substance prescription to a questionnaire alone. Describe a live evaluation by a licensed practitioner who decides if a prescription is appropriate.

   21 U.S.C. 841 · Needs counsel review

4. CG-EFF-014 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Claims of instant, one-visit or universal results, or of working where all else fails, promise outcomes no clinic can substantiate.

   Source: FTC Act section 5; FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance; FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255

   Safer wording: Remove the promise of speed or certainty. Say what the service is and that results vary.

   16 CFR Part 255 · Needs counsel review

Everything for the industry is on the clinics and medical practices page, and all North Carolina rules for any industry are on the North Carolina page.