Someone close to me has been refused to be seen by several doctors for a follow-up, they either say they were not assigned to her or they are "too busy" (doctors were assigned to her after an emergency visit).
She does not have insurance but is willing to pay for services, and has enough money to do so (she's self-employed)...
The medication she has been prescribed is having some serious side effects and the doctor who prescribed them says he's "too busy" to see her.
Is this legal?
2006-11-14 14:01:19 · 2 answers · asked by ♥ ms. @ ♥ 4 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
No, she actually suffered a heart attack (has never been to the emergency room before)and was prescribed medications for the heart which are having severe side effects.
It seems she's getting the runaround and we are lost as to why. We assumed it was an insurance thing, but we don't know and don't know what to do about it.
She literally went to the doctor today (had an appointment) and the doctor who prescribed the meds stated he could not follow-up with her because he was "too busy" (not the first time he says this), the other doctor (who was referred by the cardiologist) stated he could not see her because it wasn't his patient and the cardiologist was wrong for having her come to him (but all of these doctors are billing her on the hospital bill, which makes it even more confusing).
2006-11-14 14:18:51 · update #1
No, it is not illegal to refuse to treat a patient - strictly by law, but it is certainly not good practice. Does this person have a history of going to the doctor very often? Is he/she trying to get narcotic medications or anything of that nature? I don't mean to offend - but this is very unusual manner for a doctor. It IS breaking the Hippocratic oath all MDs take when they graduate. Doctors in my area refuse anyone on the DRUG-SEEKER LIST, which is shared with the whole medical community. And you'd better be missing an arm or leg before you're given any pain pills.
- - - - - - - A few minutes later - - - - - -
OK, I just read your comments and I totally agree with you that this is horrible treatment. My advice is to go to another doctor.
The Dr in question is not doing his job properly. You can file a greviance against him over the Internet. E-mail me if you need help finding it. I'm glad to help.
2006-11-14 14:11:28 · answer #1 · answered by SuperCityRob 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The only time a patient must be seen is if they go to the emergeny room, it is illegal to be refused treatment there. For follow up visits, on the other hand, doctors do not have to see her. It very well could be an insurance issue, some offices may not want to risk taking on a patient that is going to self-pay for the treatment. it is completely up the the doctor and his practice to decided which insurance they take or not. not all docors are like that, and i would strongly recommend calling around to other offices to see if they take self-paying patients
2006-11-14 22:31:35 · answer #2 · answered by lisa42088 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋