273 CMR, § 8.02 - Reporting Abuse, Mistreatment or Neglect

(1) Elder Abuse. A naturopathic doctor who has reasonable cause to believe that an elderly person is suffering from or has died as a result of abuse, shall immediately make a verbal report of such information or cause a report to be made to the Department of Elder Affairs or its designated agency and shall within 48 hours make a written report to said Department or its designated agency.

(2) Abuse of a Disabled Person. A naturopathic doctor who has reasonable cause to believe that a disabled person is suffering from or has died as a result of abuse, shall immediately make a verbal report of such information or cause a report to be made to the Disabled Persons Protection Commission and shall within 48 hours make a written report to the Disabled Persons Protection Commission.

(3) Abuse, Neglect or Mistreatment of a Patient or Resident. A naturopathic doctor who has reasonable cause to believe that an individual who receives health, homemaker or hospice services at home from an individual employed by a home health agency or a hospice program or an individual who resides in a long term care facility licensed has been abused, mistreated or neglected or had property misappropriated, shall immediately report such abuse, mistreatment or neglect by making a verbal report of such information or causing a report to be made to the Department of Public Health and shall within 48 hours make a written report to the Department of Public Health.

(4) Child Abuse or Neglect. A naturopathic doctor who has reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical or emotional injury resulting from any of the circumstances listed below shall immediately make a verbal report of such information or cause a report to be made to the Department of Children and Families and shall within 48 hours make a written report to the Department of Children and Families:

(a) abuse inflicted upon a child that causes harm or substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, including sexual abuse;

(b) neglect, including malnutrition;

(c) physical dependence upon an addictive drug at birth;

(d) being a sexually exploited child; or

(e) being a human trafficking victim.

Notes

273 CMR, § 8.02

Adopted by Mass Register Issue 1468, eff. 4/29/2022.