Dr. Mid-Nite and the Law

May 28th, 2004

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

Doctor Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross) is a fascinating character, mainly because he is one of the few superhero “doctors” who actually practices medicine. He is an accomplished surgeon, but also is proficient in primary care medicine. Generally, Matt Wagner and Geoff Johns/David Goyer have done a good job writing the medical aspects of the character. There are a few medical-legal issues that have gone unresolved, however.

  1. In the Doctor Mid-Nite #1, Pieter Cross is injected with a dangerous and experimental steroid. As a result, he crashes his car, killing an innocent woman. After the crash, his medical license is revoked by the AMA (American Medical Association). However, the AMA does not have the power to issue or revoke licenses; it is strictly a professional organization. Each state has a medical board that issues (and revokes) medical licenses for that state.
    Did he ever get his license reinstated, or is he practicing medicine without a license? Does he have a license for every state, or how does he get by practicing medicine wherever the JSA takes him?

  2. In JSA #17, Pieter is on a dinner date with Black Canary when they are attacked by Count Vertigo. Pieter injects Canary with diazepam (Valium), and meclizine (Antivert) to stop the dizziness. Both of these medicines are excellent choices for vertigo, however diazepam is a class IV controlled substance. Superhero or not, it looks mighty suspicious that he injected his dinner date with this addictive medicine, and without a prescription, too.
  3. Again, in JSA: All Stars #6, Dr. Mid-Nite runs afoul of controlled substance laws. Happening across a pregnant woman in a crashed subway train, he offers her both meperidine (Demerol) and butorphanol (Stadol). Both of these are narcotics and controlled substances. Once again, Pieter is handing out addictive medications to people he barely knows. This is especially true of meperidine, which is a class II controlled substance and highly regulated. (As a medical note, narcotics are avoided whenever possible in labor because they sedate the infant as well as the mother.)
    How does he legally get away with carrying all these controlled drugs — does he have special permission? Exactly how many drugs does he carry with him? (Does he have Mid-Nite-utility belt?)

DEA Controlled Substance Classes:
Class I - high abuse potential; no accepted medical use (i.e. heroin)
Class II - High abuse potential and severe dependence liability(i.e. morphine, codeine, cocaine, amphetamines, etc.). Stringent prescription requirements.
Class III - Moderate dependence liability (i.e. combination agents like Tylenol #3, Vicodin)
Class IV - Limited dependence liability (i.e. Valium, Xanax)
Class V - Limited abuse potential (i.e. Lomotil)

6 Responses to “ Dr. Mid-Nite and the Law ”

  1. Gareth Wilson
    May 28th, 2004 at 3:34 pm

    “Class I - high abuse potential; no accepted medical use (i.e. heroin)”
    Isn’t herion used as a painkiller in heart attack victims? Or is that just in the UK?

  2. Scott
    May 28th, 2004 at 4:34 pm

    Not in the US. Morphine is used, but not heroin. Interesting…have to look into that…

  3. Scott
    May 28th, 2004 at 4:54 pm

    Heroin (diamorphine) is used in the UK, and a few other countries, for pain relief for heart attacks. In the U.S. and elsewhere, morphine is usually used. Heroin is big no-no in the U.S., so I doubt it’ll ever be used medically. I should point out that the “no apparent medical use” for Class I substances is a little misleading, as marijuana is a Class I, but there are some “investigational” medical uses.

  4. matthew rossi
    May 30th, 2004 at 4:52 pm

    Question: supposing a doctor is on vacation in another state and there’s a medical emergency (whatever kind works for the hypothetical… an earthquake, a disaster, multi-car pile-up on the freeway, whatever) - is it safe to assume that he or she would get into legal trouble if she jumped in and started helping out without a license to practice in that state, or would it be considered permissible because of the emergency situation?

  5. Scott`
    May 30th, 2004 at 10:53 pm

    Disasters/Emergency situations are exceptions to the general rule. In fact, a doctor is supposed to assist in such situations — the classic “is there a doctor on board?” actually happens, and has happened to me on a flight to Ohio once. Ended up not being a big problem and netting me some extra frequent flier miles.
    I think the “Practicing medicine without a license” charge is generally applied to people who aren’t physicians, or tacked onto significantly egregious situations. A blind eye is usually turned if it’s a vacation, brief visit, etc.

  6. david
    January 3rd, 2008 at 12:41 am

    My mom told me that LSD was the only drug she knew of that had no legitimate medical use*. She included all recreational drugs in that list. Heroin is Morphine with fewer side effects: it acts quickly and clears quickly: you can ramp up the dosage without making the patient sick, which is particularly important in severe intractable pain, so cancer patients get most of it.

    When manufactured in USA and sold to the UK, it is called diamorphine.

    *e.g: Thalidomide is used for Hansen’s disease.

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