Basic Information
As the name implies a Black Market Doctor is a medical professional - sometimes a physician, but typically a surgeon, who operates on the wrong side of the law. Or at least the illegal side.
Depending on the setting, these people may be apparently legitimate, licenced professionals carrying out illegal procedures on the side or unlicenced practitioners carrying out legal work (which might arguably make them grey market doctors). Equally they might well be unlicenced and carrying out illegal work. These people are distinct from medical practioners in a setting where no licencing applies - where there is no regulation, the whole black-white-grey thing doesn't make much sense.
Again, the nature of the work is massively variable - this character might provide perfectly decent medical care, possibly even out of a licenced doctor's practice, albiet at a cheaper rate than a legal alternative, or may be an incompetent butcher who cynically exploits those too poor for better care. Other common versions are the sort of doctor who will treat gunshot wounds, no questions asked at any hour of the day1 and the sort that provides STI control, abortions and possibly unethical plastic surgery to a pimps stable of prostitutes. Performing illegal organ transplants with unethically sourced organs is also a distinct possibility, as is the practice of performing face-changes for prominent criminals. The tamest variety simply write prescriptions to order, allowing clients to obtain controlled drugs in an apparently legitimate manner. Another option would be for a corrupt doctor to write a death certificate for someone that avoids an autopsy, Coroner's inquiry or other investigation into a death.
Black market doctors are also a key feature of cyberpunk where they patch up the characters (highly frequent) wounds and install unregistered (and/or prohibited) wetware … and perhaps strip it from any corpses they are brought as well. Other sci-fi versions can be found performing unlicensed genengineering work, including bio-enhancements, producing designer babies or clones and transforming DNA profiles to stymie forensics work. Expect also for them to perform operations to bypass biometric security measures - transplanting fingerprints, eyeballs and the like.
Since these people are, by definition, unregulated, caveat emptor applies in spades - and it might be best to have someone watch your back in case it's you that gets broken down for parts whilst you're under anesthetic. Likewise if they get access to your DNA profile and/or biometrics identity theft may take on a whole new meaning.
In settings where medical procedures are performed by robots, this one is out of warranty, running on black market software, converted from some other use or otherwise deviant from normal expectations.
In the pre-modern era, this sort of medical practice is likely carried out by a local cunning-man or wisewoman poaching on the territory of the guilded professionals or a licenced midwife or barber-surgeon overstepping the recognised bounds of their profession. Historically a physician performing surgery might have found himself in much the same position.
Sources
News story concerning criminal gang members seeking "alternative" medical assistance from veterinarians and similar…
Game and Story Use
- PCs are likely to need access to one of these in any reasonably stringent modern campaign. Obtaining one can become an important early campaign objective.
- Useful to establish why an unlicensed doc is unlicensed - are they incompetent? Drunk? Disbarred for illegal or unethical practices? The washed out drunk is a staple of pulp/noir thrillers, whereas the bankrupt or unjustly disbarred doctor might well turn up in a more sympathetic role, working the urban poor or a destitute rural beat.
- The most ethical version of this is probably a resident or even illegal alien doctor who is fully qualified but whose qualifications aren't recognised in his new country of residence - which can happen very easily if travelling between nations that have no system of mutual accreditation in place or if the doctor cannot provide evidence of being qualified (e.g. he is a refugee and either living incognito or simply had to leave his paperwork behind when he fled). Likewise doctors whose qualifications aren't recognised due to discrimination (for example a Jewish doctor in medieval Europe).
- This can even happen within a nation - in the US, for example, a doctor is licenced in his specific state … with a very few exceptions, he will be breaking the law if he practices medicine in a different state, even if the state in question starts within throwing distance of his practice.
- The licenced but malpracticing doctor is also a distinct possibility - the guy patching stolen kidneys into rich queue jumpers or acting as a "tart vet" to a stable of slave-prostitutes makes a good acceptable target. Unless, of course, he's also the guy your PCs need to patch up their illicit gunshot wounds…
- Likewise the cyberpunk doc who strips the PCs victims for parts in lieu of fees (or for a share of the salvage price).
- Of course, in a suitably dystopian setting, PCs working for the right people (e.g. a Cyperpunk megacorp) may be able to get top of the line treatment as though it were perfectly legitimate (if the Corporation has a lock-hold on what happens inside its enclave, you can have a dozen federal warrants against you and it won't stop them giving you five star treatment and military grade cyberware if it suits them).
- Potentially you could also include other sorts of medical professional "cross skilling" such as veterinarians practising on humans, dentists doing non-dental surgery or non-dentists doing dental work.
- Speaking of vets, an ex-forces bush doctor could make a good medical practitioner for a poor rural community, even if what he does isn't strictly legal, as could other sub-doctor medical professionals (paramedics and nurses for example, working above their legal grade, whether or not they are above their actual competence).
- In the worst cases, these people may have little or no skill at all and work with an undergraduate medical handbook propped up next to them.
- Specific story cases: Terry Pratchett's Discworld - specifically the City of Ankh-Morpork - has two good examples of the black market doctor:
- "Mossy" Lawn: an unlicensed (non-guild) doctor, found practicing in the slums, generally as a "pox doctor" to the city's prostitutes and criminal class … including the victims (and once "John Keel" gets started, the members) of the secret police. Has the unusual characteristic of being a lot more competent than the city's legal doctors.
- "Doctor" James Fulsom (aka. "Donut Jimmy") - a somewhat dodgy racehorse veterinarian who was still the Watch's choice to treat the Patrician …