Reporting Abuse, Mistreatment or Neglect
Effective Apr 29, 2022Mass. Register #1468M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 266 through 274Board of Registration in Naturopathy
- (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.