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Can my doctor send me a withdraw letter, stating he will no longer see me and give me no time to find another dr?
Anonymous2 views1 answers
I called on Friday to make my dr's appointment on Monday and was told I was banned from the clinic. I received a certified letter on Saturday, but the letter does not state that he will give me any time to find a replacement doctor and suggests I go to a pain management clinic or another physician because my condition requires further medical care.
Is it dangerous after he has been giving me pain medication to just stop taking it?
I found this while reading Texas law and to me it sounds like I should receive time to find a dr.
"A statement that the physician-patient relationship will terminate in a specified time period and a recommendation that the patient find another physician. "
http://www.tmlt.org/newscenter/features/terminating.html
Is he required by law to give me time? Thanks=)
Your doctor may have for variety of reasons decided that you are a "difficult" patient and terminated the doctor- patient relationship. The doctor does have some obligations to you and can not simply abandon you as has apparently happened with you, and you certainly should have been given time to find another phyisican without any disrupton to your care and treatment. But the real question is what you can do about this rude treatment. I would proceed in the following manner:
1. Write a letter or send an email to the doctor expressing your disappointment with the way you have been treated and ask for suggestions to find another phyisican;
2. If you are without appropriate medication, you need to inform him/her of that fact and ask that the doctor make proper arrangements for your medication.
3. Given the brusque treatment you received, it may be that the doctor will not respond to you. In that case, I would contact the Texas Medical Board (512) 305-7010 and file a formal complaint. It may not help with any treatment but it will remind the doctor to be attentative to patients.
4. If Medicare, Medicaid or a private carrier is invovled with your treatment, you may want to call the Patient advocate Office and log a complaint with the entity involved.
5. You should get a copy of your medical records from the doctor in question to make sure the records accurately reflect what happened. If there are some negative comments in your records, it may make if difficult to find another doctor, so be aware of that possibility. Your documents can not be with held for failur to pay a medical bill.
6. While there may be a cause of action for abandonment of a patient, you are unlikely to find an attorney who would take a case under the circumstances that you described in your quesiton. There does not seem to be any physical or mental damage due to the actions of the doctor, and any monetary loss would be questionable.
Again, the manner in which the doctor managed your case is not appropriate, and maybe there is a violation of the law or the Texas Medical Board regulations, but a private attorney will probably not be willing to file a lawsuit under the conditions you described. You do need to make every effort to find a new doctor as soon as you can.
Bob Bennett
The purpose of this answer is for the education of the public on the Texas Legal System. No attorney client relationship is implied and nor undertaken. The questioner should seek competent legal counsel in the area in which he/she resides or contact the local lawyer referral service or the State Bar of Texas
