Considerations in Deciding Course of Action After Receiving Unsolicited Email From an Unknown Person
| Determine whether the sender's identify can be verified. Could it be a person other than who the sender claims to be? |
| Potential for creation of doctor–patient relationship with duty of care if you reply, despite lack of ability to examine or obtain collateral information in a potentially complex case |
| Licensing and malpractice concerns if sender is not in state |
| Potential for the e-mailer to misinterpret your response |
| False expectations: potential for lack of appropriate action by e-mailer because he believes that he is following psychiatric advice, or alternatively, because he is waiting for a reply from the psychiatrist |