# What can a single person use for medical transportation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943 "2020-08-25T02:14:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/101 "2020-12-16T17:17:57Z")
Huh. I have had to identify my ride and sign my agreement. That includes for an awake colonoscopy. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/102 "2020-12-16T18:51:54Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > If everyone in this country got the medically necessary care they needed as a right instead of a costly privilege there would be less motivation for those left permanently maimed to seek deep pockets simply to cover the cost of staying alive. > > In other words, neither of our scenarios covers everyone. There are several reasons for the malpractice muck in the US and quite a bit of it is related to our jacked-up healthcare “system” that is often more concerned with extracting profits than actually providing care. A lot is related to our healthcare system not being single payer. First and foremost, a lot of lawsuits are from insurance companies in the first place. I mean, “neighbor sues because they tripped over their neighbor’s rake and hit their head” -type of stories are common. Those are almost always the injured person’s insurance company suing someone they think should have to pay instead of them. If you have insurance, you’ve agreed to let your insurance company sue on your behalf, and to not undermine their efforts. They get to sue in your name, and laws prohibit mentioning them at trial. It looks like you are the one suing. So, a lot of the time, particularly with suits that pit friends, neighbors or family members against one another, it’s the insurance company behind it, and the injured person can’t say, “I want no part of this” if they want their bills paid. (It’s often insurance companies on both sides – regular healthcare insurance on one side, and homeowners insurance on the other, for example.) This is why such suits are rare to non-existent in single-payer countries. You don’t have to worry about how those bills will be paid. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/103 "2020-12-16T19:02:27Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > There’s a fundamental difference between someone signing a document assuming liability for something and a knowing look. And that the medical establishment is willing to accept a casual glance indicates to patients that this isn’t really important at all - it’s just a barrier and an expensive (in either time or money) one at that. Because eyeing someone doesn’t keep patients safer. This is important. Requiring a ride home person to sign a form accepting legal responsibility would not be just some CYA thing. It would keep patients safer. Also, just making eye contact with someone and then letting a patient leave is unlikely to be something instigated by lawyers. I know it’s fun for people to blame lawyers when there are stupid rules for things, but if the stupid rules clearly don’t actually prevent harm, _and_ don’t involve transferring liability away from the supposed lawyer’s clients, then those rules probably were not dreamed up by lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/104 "2020-12-17T02:04:36Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > If you have insurance, you’ve agreed to let your insurance company sue on your behalf, and to not undermine their efforts. They get to sue in your name, and laws prohibit mentioning them at trial. It looks like you are the one suing. Is this what really happens in malpractice trials, though??? I know about subrogation. Every time one of us has had an orthopedic injury, we get a letter from health insurance saying, basically, “Any chance this happened because someone else was negligent, so we can sue 'em? pretty please???”. As it happens, the answer has always been “No, I’m just a complete and utter klutz” - but I imagine if it were potentially due to someone else’s negligence the company would indeed try to get their money back. If it is a case of medical malpractice and I choose not to sue, how could the insurer compel me to testify? I mean, they could certainly subpoena me, but they surely could not prevent me from telling the judge that “I’m here because Purple Anvil says I gotta”. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/105 "2020-12-17T02:18:58Z")
If you don’t cooperate, I presume they will refuse to pay. If they think someone else caused the injury and should be the one paying rather than them, and you undermine that effort, then the contract presumably allows them not to pay the disputed amount. They can sue in your name, and you can tell the judge they have to compel you, but you definitely can’t tell that to the jury. You’re usually not allowed to mention insurance in front of the jury, because it’s too prejudicial. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/106 "2020-12-17T03:24:28Z")
I can’t find any information about subrogation being used by a patient’s health insurance company for a medical malpractice claim. Maybe for some reason it isn’t used for those. But art of my point is still backed up by research. There are fewer malpractice suits in single payer systems. Once medical expenses are not at issue, there are fewer cases worth bringing, probably. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/107 "2020-12-17T04:16:03Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > If it’s really imperative that I don’t drive within X hours of the procedure, don’t let me out for X hours of the procedure. Otherwise, it’s just safety theater (and bad theater at that) - even if the friend is there after the procedure is over, nothing is stopping the patient from being the one who gets behind the wheel. If it’s important that I’m checked in on for several hours after, then create a process that does that (e.g., a number that I have to call every 30 minutes or an app that I need to check in on at regular intervals). That’s not practical, though. There are many procedures where you can’t drive for a week or much longer afterwards, which affects your ability to drive, but doesn’t mean you need in-patient care for the whole time you can’t drive safely. The ones I can think of from friends are c-sections, breast removal surgery, major abdominal surgery, hip replacement surgery, and even surgery on some broken bones. None of them require you to stay in hospital throughout the entire time you recover well enough to be able to drive. And most of them would mean you couldn’t call in every thirty minutes - I’m trying to imagine a mother with a newborn and a C-section calling in every thirty minutes while sleeping, recovering, and breastfeeding. 😃 It’s true that you could lie. But then you’d be lying against the advice of the health professionals who are giving you this advice in good faith. Legally, if you claimed you were being collected by a friend or anything like that, and were very insistent about it, then were found in the driver’s seat in an empty car after an accident that was your fault once you left the hospital, there might be some to-and-fro about who was responsible for the accident, based on how well they checked that you were lying. But morally, if you were told not to drive and lied in order to drive, that’s on you. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/108 "2020-12-17T04:28:32Z")
I think the reason you can’t find anything about subrogation in a malpractice suit is because the damages in a malpractice suit are for the damages caused by the malpractice - pain and suffering, lost earnings and _future_ medical bills caused by the malpractice. So if the surgeon leaves a sponge inside you and your insurance company pays for a second surgery to remove it, subrogation might be involved because the surgeon’s malpractice insurance should be paying for that second surgery. Those damages might be eliminated by single-payer health insurance. But there would still be plenty of malpractice cases unless a lot of other changes are made besides going to single payer. In addition to the pain and suffering and lost earnings damages (which your health insurance company is not going to pay), there are “medical” costs that are not covered by health insurance (other than Medicaid) currently. For example, if the malpractice causes the sort of injury that requires long-term nursing home care, regular health insurance doesn’t pay for it to begin with, so there wouldn’t be any subrogation claim. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/109 "2020-12-17T04:42:04Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > That’s not practical, though. There are many procedures where you can’t drive for a week or much longer afterwards, which affects your ability to drive, but doesn’t mean you need in-patient care for the whole time you can’t drive safely. The ones I can think of from friends are c-sections, breast removal surgery, major abdominal surgery, hip replacement surgery, and even surgery on some broken bones. But those are different from the “can’t drive for X hours after sedation/anesthesia”, I think. It’s not that your mind is fuzzy or you might suddenly nod off - you can’t [drive](https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-not-to-do-after-surgery-3156899#:~:text=Don't%20Drive%20Too%20Soon&text=If%20you%20have%20an%20incision,sutures%20holding%20it%20in%20place.) because braking sharply ( or even moving much ) before your incision is healed will cause pain, or because you won’t be able to brake quickly after knee surgery. The business about “someone has to pick you up and it can’t be a cabdriver” is about the anesthesia/sedation - because after all, when they tell you not to drive for X weeks after surgery, they don’t also tell you you can’t take a cab for that number of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/110 "2020-12-17T05:02:43Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > That’s not practical, though. There are many procedures where you can’t drive for a week or much longer afterwards, which affects your ability to drive, but doesn’t mean you need in-patient care for the whole time you can’t drive safely. The ones I can think of from friends are c-sections, breast removal surgery, major abdominal surgery, hip replacement surgery, and even surgery on some broken bones. For those, do they stop the procedure if you’re on your own - without a friend or family member? Can you leave without accompaniment? (or with just the baby, for the c-section?) I’m very much assuming that if a woman shows up in labor, they’re not going to refuse to deliver the baby if she doesn’t have a “friend” for the nurse to make eye-contact with, but I could be wrong. My problem isn’t that the hospital told me that I couldn’t drive - it’s that they wouldn’t do the procedure unless someone was on call to pick me up. As I am single, it is a PITA for someone to take a day off of work for safety theater. During COVID, it’s worse because my “bubble” consists of me and my dog. The costs to have a professional do this instead are ridiculous for the amount of work they do. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/111 "2020-12-17T05:06:17Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > But those are different from the “can’t drive for X hours after sedation/anesthesia”, I think. It’s not that your mind is fuzzy or you might suddenly nod off - you can’t [drive](https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-not-to-do-after-surgery-3156899#:~:text=Don't%20Drive%20Too%20Soon&text=If%20you%20have%20an%20incision,sutures%20holding%20it%20in%20place.) because braking sharply ( or even moving much ) before your incision is healed will cause pain, or because you won’t be able to brake quickly after knee surgery. The business about “someone has to pick you up and it can’t be a cabdriver” is about the anesthesia/sedation - because after all, when they tell you not to drive for X weeks after surgery, they don’t also tell you you can’t take a cab for that number of weeks. It didn’t seem like there was a difference made in the post I was responding to. You might be right and in that case I take it back. The reply format on my screen gives me so little space to view the thread that it’s difficult to check. It was also difficult when trying to reply before. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/112 "2020-12-17T10:25:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Anyone know what is done in other countries that don’t have America’s health care system? For example, what does a single person in the UK do when they have to go to and get home from a colonoscopy? Can’t speak for any other country, but [central NHS guidance](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/having-surgery/afterwards/) is that after surgery and/or general anaesthetic no-one should drive, and should have someone to meet them and take them home or use a taxi. Also every hospital should have its own policy clearly communicated, and that discharge procedures should include discussion of arrangements for transfer home and aftercare, which would cover all these points. If necessary, there [may well be patient transport services](https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/going-into-hospital/how-to-organise-transport-to-and-from-hospital/) (not a full emergency ambulance, more - as stated upthread - an adapted minibus) for moving frailer patients between home and hospital ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/113 "2020-12-17T11:21:57Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I know about subrogation. Every time one of us has had an orthopedic injury, we get a letter from health insurance saying, basically, “Any chance this happened because someone else was negligent, so we can sue 'em? pretty please???” Yeah, I used to get one of those a month (at least!) when my husband had cancer. I like, really, you think someone gave him bladder cancer? How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/114 "2020-12-17T19:15:11Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > But art of my point is still backed up by research. There are fewer malpractice suits in single payer systems. Once medical expenses are not at issue, there are fewer cases worth bringing, probably. I can believe that. Places with single-payer systems are likelier (I imagine) to have other social support mechanisms in place, so there’s less need for “x million dollars to cover a lifetime of care” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/115 "2020-12-18T00:42:44Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I like, really, you think someone gave him bladder cancer? How does that work? Well, smoking, but more likely they’d be hoping for something like workplace exposure to dyes or the Pioglitazone class action (how did that turn out?) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/116 "2020-12-18T09:31:01Z")
Yeah, except he never smoked. Never took pioglitazone. Played bagpipes for a living and before that worked at a drawing table then a computer station as a design engineer. Sorry, nothing there to sue. Although they kept digging. Every month another letter and questionnaire asking about subrogation. What, did they lose the one I’d done four weeks prior. After the second one when the lady at the insurance company told me they’d probably keep coming I ran off a few copies of my answers and just mailed another one in when the next letter arrived. Great time saver, that. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/117 "2020-12-23T04:27:17Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > For those, do they stop the procedure if you’re on your own - without a friend or family member? Can you leave without accompaniment? (or with just the baby, for the c-section?) I’m very much assuming that if a woman shows up in labor, they’re not going to refuse to deliver the baby if she doesn’t have a “friend” for the nurse to make eye-contact with, but I could be wrong. Sorry, I didn’t notice this before. No, they definitely would not turn away a woman in labour, or any other emergency, just because she doesn’t have someone there with her when she arrives at the hospital. I mean, a woman could start labour on the street, arrive on her own, but have someone arrive later. And obviously they’re not going to stop any procedure that’s as important as a C-section just because there isn’t a friend waiting outside. She wouldn’t be permitted to leave the hospital without someone to support her, though. It’s a very reasonable requirement - if a woman’s had major abdominal surgery and has a newborn to look after, the hospital has a duty of care towards both of them. A taxi driver would not suffice. You could get a taxi, that’s fine, but you’d need a friend or family member with you for that journey. In the event that you can’t find anyone at all to help you with even that small task the hospital would probably contact social services, because it’s highly likely that you’re in a position where you might need external help, at least temporarily. You can’t safely leave a hospital after a C-section on your own with a newborn with so little support that nobody will even get in a taxi with you for the thirty-minute ride home. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/118 "2020-12-23T12:11:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > She wouldn’t be permitted to leave the hospital without someone to support her, though. Seriously? In the US, a doctor/nurse/hospital administrator doesn’t have police powers. Signing out AMA (against medical advice) is a thing. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/119 "2020-12-23T12:16:33Z")
She might not be able to leave with the infant if there are concerns about the baby’s health or her ability to care for it. She could AMA, the infant could be placed on a child welfare hold. Any particular reason why doctors/nurses/hospitals are being maligned out of the blue here? It is a bit of a reach. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943/120 "2020-12-23T12:33:53Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Any particular reason why doctors/nurses/hospitals are being maligned out of the blue here? It is a bit of a reach. Just fighting ignorance. The idea that a doctor/nurse (in the US) can forbid you from leaving (AMA) is wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-single-person-use-for-medical-transportation/918943.md?page=7)