Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XVI Chapter 112
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 6 (2026)

Unauthorized or unregistered practice of medicine; penalties

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 6. Except as provided in section sixty-five, whoever, not being lawfully authorized to practice medicine within the commonwealth and registered under section two, or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, or under section one or two of chapter five hundred and twenty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and nine, holds himself out as a practitioner of medicine or practices or attempts to practice medicine in any of its branches, or whoever practices medicine under a false or assumed name or under a name other than that by which he is registered, or whoever personates another practitioner, or whoever practices or attempts to practice any fraud in connection with the filing of an application, or whoever files an application under a false or assumed name or under a name other than his own, or whoever personates or attempts to personate another applicant for registration during an examination, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than one year, or both. A person rendering medical service in violation of this section shall recover no compensation therefor.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1926–2001 · leading case: Leigh v. Bd. of Reg. in Nursing, 481 N.E.2d 1347 (Mass. 1985).
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Leigh v. Bd. of Reg. in Nursing, 481 N.E.2d 1347 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 2× “112, § 80C, in conjunction with G. L. c. 112, §§ 6, 80, could be used to prosecute a lay person who practices midwifery for the unauthorized practice of nursing or medicine.”
Whipple v. Grandchamp, 158 N.E. 270 (Mass. 1927). “76, § 8, now G. L. c. 112, § 6; St. 1927, c. 137, and is required to be licensed if the services which he renders, or which he holds himself out as having the capacity to exercise, fall into any part of the entire field of the science of medicine or *45 surgery.”
Joe Gout Shong v. Joe Chew Shee, 254 Mass. 366 (Mass. 1926). “An examination of the evidence shows that the findings and rulings were well warranted.”
LaFleur v. Cicconi, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 647 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001). “Specifically, New Life contends that any right of control is prohibited by G.L.c. 112, §6. 4 In light of this conflicting evidence, the right of control is a question of fact for the jury.”
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