I. Under Maryland law, can a physician defined as a provider of mental health services be held liable to a third party for negligence for violating his or her duty to notify the third party?II. May a medical malpractice claim against a health care provider, where the injury falls outside the scope of a medical injury, be subject to mandatory arbitration under the Maryland Health Medical Malpractice Claims Act? SHORT ANSWER. Probably not, a physician cannot be held liable to a third party for failure to warn a third party if no special relationship has been established between the physician and the third party through Maryland statute or common law.I. Probably not, injuries that are not the result of the provision or failure to provide health care by a health care provider are not considered medical injuries and are not subject to mandatory arbitration under the Maryland Health Medical Malpractice Claims Act. FACTSA one year after dating Steve Hodges, Shelly M. Turner allowed Hodges to spend weekends at her house. Turner has two children, Tabitha and Sabrina, and Turner has maintained a strict policy of not allowing his children to be at home unsupervised with significant others. Turner noted that Hodges made frequent visits to his doctor, and when Turner questioned Hodges about the appointments, he mentioned that the visits were for the purpose of preventative care to ensure he did not have any medical recurrences. Turner and Hodge's relationship progressed to the point of discussing marriage, having children and moving in together. Hodges told Turner that he was suffering from sexual dysfunction problems and that he was going to his longtime family doctor, Dr. Keith Winslow, to get a prescription for Viagra. Winslow prescribed Viagra to Hodges in... middle of paper... Even if the patient's past history provides evidence that the harm was foreseeable, that patient's doctor has no obligation to notify third parties due to the lack of rapport between the doctor and the third party. Overall, taking Turner's case against Dr. Winslow for breach of professional duties will likely be a difficult case to prove.II. Turner's claim against Dr. Winslow is not considered medical harm. The injuries suffered by Tabitha were not the result of the provision or failure to provide health care on behalf of Dr. Winslow. Because the injuries are not considered medical injuries, the claim is not subject to mandatory arbitration under Maryland's Health Care Medical Malpractice Claims Act. The best option for Turner's claim is to proceed directly to civil court and seek to have damages retained for negligence in tort.