Is an exam required before a patient can be treated in Louisiana?

Q: Is an exam required before a patient can be treated in Louisiana?

THESE CLAIMS SURVEY THE MEDICAL PRACTICE ACT, NOT A TELEHEALTH STATUTE, AND SHOULD BE READ THAT WAY. Louisiana's licensing section itself points elsewhere for remote care — it requires a license to practice medicine “except as provided in the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act, R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq.” — and that Act is NOT surveyed by these claims. What is on record here is the standard the treatment must meet however it is delivered: prescribing, dispensing or administering legally controlled substances or any dependency-inducing medication WITHOUT LEGITIMATE MEDICAL JUSTIFICATION, or in other than a legal or legitimate manner, is a cause for discipline; so is medical incompetency, which the statute defines to include continuing or recurring medical practice that FAILS TO SATISFY THE PREVAILING AND USUALLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS of medical practice in this state; and so is abandonment of a patient. Confirm the telehealth intake requirements against R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq. with the board or counsel. (La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(6); La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(14); La. Rev. Stat. §37:1271; La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(17)) This is regulatory monitoring, not legal advice.

Intake · part of The Practice Perimeter

Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — none require a pre-treatment exam; they only make prescribing or administering controlled substances without legitimate medical justification, and practice below accepted standards, grounds for board discipline.

These claims survey the medical practice act, not a telehealth statute, and should be read that way. Louisiana's licensing section itself points elsewhere for remote care — it requires a license to practice medicine “except as provided in the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act, R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq.” — and that Act is NOT surveyed by these claims. What is on record here is the standard the treatment must meet however it is delivered: prescribing, dispensing or administering legally controlled substances or any dependency-inducing medication without legitimate medical justification, or in other than a legal or legitimate manner, is a cause for discipline; so is medical incompetency, which the statute defines to include continuing or recurring medical practice that fails to satisfy the prevailing and usually accepted standards of medical practice in this state; and so is abandonment of a patient. Confirm the telehealth intake requirements against R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq. with the board or counsel.

Drawn from 4 verified rules in this section · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice

La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(6) · Sep 3, 2026
La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(14) · Sep 3, 2026
La. Rev. Stat. §37:1271 · Sep 3, 2026
La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(17) · Sep 3, 2026

Related Louisiana rules

Prescribing, dispensing, or administering legally controlled substances or any dependency-inducing medication without legitimate medical justification therefor or in other than a legal or legitimate manner is a cause for which the board may refuse to issue, or may suspend or revoke any license or permit.
La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(6) · verified Sep 3, 2026
Medical incompetency, including but not limited to, incompetency manifested by continuing or recurring medical practice which fails to satisfy the prevailing and usually accepted standards of medical practice in this state, is a cause for which the board may refuse to issue, or may suspend or revoke any license or permit.
La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(14) · verified Sep 3, 2026

All 4 cited Louisiana rules on good-faith examination →

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← All Louisiana rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).

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