sigh
Look, the reason I was justifiably annoyed by LurkerInNJ’s and similar posts (including yours) is because I’d already stated several times ** – including right there in my OP – that I’m ALREADY SEEKING A NEW DOCTOR!** That’s why I replied “Shouldn’t you be reading the thread far more carefully?”
For another example, in this post, I had already written:
How many times did I need to repeat that for the benefit of those who couldn’t be bothered to read the thread?
And now another one! See here
Sheesh.
sigh
Your premise that “an unsigned letter = everyone signed it” is silly. The truth is that “an unsigned letter = no letter at all”.
I did, in fact, explain what they are for! Diabetes and high blood pressure, among others. These are not “quality of life” issues, they’re very serious.
Why won’t anyone read?
Instead of a serious effort to provide solid answers with citations for my two General Questions (which I hold to be partially samclem’s fault for moving this thread from General Questions into an “opinion” forum), it has since turned into yet another case of “criticize the OP”. Thus, I’m departing the thread.
However, my considerable gratitude goes out to IvoryTowerDenizen.
The following is from several documents regarding patient termination / abandonment / negligence / ethics that continue to very much persuade me that those who’ve been criticizing me are off base and that the office did indeed mistreat me:
Yet nothing like that took place!
All that applies in my case, yet nothing like that was done. This termination has most definitely disrupted the continuity of my medical care. The overwhelming majority of the care any American doctor delivers these days is in the form of medications. Refusing to refill them before the 30-day period elapses is unambiguously a disruption of my medical care, and is clearly is an ethical, if not also legal, violation.
And I’ve finally found document that does indicate that “continuity of care” includes refilling medications for chronic and other conditions.
Thanks to those few who read the thread carefully and made a sincere effort to answer my General Questions!
That’s what the manager told you, as well as what I told you.
If you would prefer to ignore everything you don’t want to hear, well, that offers some insight as to why they might not want to keep you as a patient.
Regards,
Shodan
Shouldn’t you be out looking for a doctor who wants to deal with you since this practice clearly does not?
Oh, wait … it’s that issue with priorities you have going on, right?
Looks like the internet lawyers aren’t rallying to his cause either:
*However, from the facts you’ve described, the doctor you treated with passed away. If anyone abandoned a patient, it was him.
You had not yet treated with the doctor who sent you the letter. Thus, the doctor who sent you the letter cannot be charged with malpractice or patient abandonment. Technically, you were never his patient.
To be sure, the practice said that they would try to find room. However, that is not a legally binding obligation and, in fact, you were later informed that would not happen. Expressing a physician preference does not create a doctor-patient relationship. It’s unfortunate for sure – but it does not violate any laws.
You may want to consider obtaining a copy of your medical records and take upon the task of finding a new doctor to treat with.*
Accepting their own research on what the law actually says overs someone who admitted that they are not a lawyer and have not done any research on the subject is somehow a character flaw now?
Just because someone does not listen to YOU does not make them a bad person.
Say it with me now:
HE ALREADY HAS A NEW DOCTOR!
If you aren’t going to read the thread, your opinion on the matter is useless. This board is about fighting ignorance, not using your ignorance to attack people you don’t like.
You admitted it was illegal for the doctors not to provide medication in your first post. Now you insult him by saying he won’t accept it isn’t illegal? Why should he listen to you when you contradict yourself in order to insult him?
I read the thread.
Did you read the response from his internet lawyer?
This board is about fighting ignorance, not using your ignorance to attack people you don’t like.
He said he is SEEKING a new doctor. That’s from 11:46 am today.
Didn’t you read the thread?
This is not longer the domain of GQ, this is now into legal land, and wiki.answers are not binding in court. We can all speculate to our and your hearts’ delight, but we’re not lawyers specializing in medical matters. If it matters that much to you, then go talk to a malpractice attorney.
Here is the quote you are basing your argument on.
Good luck taking that one to court.
Or call the medical board in your state and find out the guidelines.
You seem fixated if the letter is signed or not. Only an attorney can tell you if that makes a difference.
As others have speculated, and this is all speculation, there could very well be a legal difference between a doctor firing an existing patient and another doctor in a practice practice refusing to accept the patients from a deceased partner.
If there is no legal obligation for fellow doctors in a group to accept a deceased doctor’s patients, then it seems likely to that the question if the letter is signed or not is a moot point.
(my bolding) You state these as if there were facts of law. There could very well be a legal distinction between a doctor covering for someone else and accepting them as their own patient.
None of these involve groups practices, so they may or may not be relevant to your case.
Yes, I can see why you feel that way.
The research the OP did says nothing of the law in general and nothing specific to this case.