Is the party in question guilty of a violation of U.S. insider trading law if they followed through with their proposed plans/strategies? (Please keep response BRIEF, LESS THAN 100 WORDS)

Your friend from college no a psychotherapist and licensed social worker has proposed that you open a brokerage account together and that you purchase shortterm, outofthemoney call options in a company headed by a patient he is treating. During a recent therapy session, the patient talked about the companys soontobeannounced merger.