IT has long been held in most states that a physician who treats a minor without parental consent — except in a medical emergency — may be liable to charges of assault and battery. A definite exception is now provided in Maryland's new law,1 which is the first of its kind in the United States. It allows physicians to examine and treat minors for venereal disease without consent of the parents or guardians. Nebraska's legislature recently passed a bill2 allowing for treatment of venereal disease upon the written consent of the minor alone. A somewhat more restrictive law has been . . .