Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY CONDI

L0tus · Jan 14, 2011

Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY CONDITION? Can a Doctor choose to treat one patient and not the other? Isn’t it the duty of the doctor to provide treatment to the patient who comes to him in an emergency condition?
My 3 year old son fell down and hit the back of his head. He had a big swelling and was in terrible pain. In such a situation we could take him to the hospital which was 45 mins away from home. We wanted to give him quick medical attention. So we decided to take him to a Doctor’s clinic (ENT) which is 5 mins away from home. We happen to know the doctor very well (well, that’s what we thought), he was a very friendly doctor, more like a family friend. Since it was the flu season, when we went to the clinic, there were lots of patients waiting to be consulted. I briefed the attender on the situation that we were in and requested to see the doctor. We wanted to get the doctor’s opinion on whether we should take my son to the hospital for nuero care. The attender went in to request the doctor, the doctor saw us standing by the door, but he refused to attend to my son. He asked us to wait in line to see him.
I would understand if there were other emergency cases waiting to treat. The other patients waiting there had no emergency, there were there for cold, flu, other ENT infections.
Was this doctor right in refusing to treat us? Is this what we can expect from any doctor? Doesn’t the doctor have any code of ethics that he/she has to adhere to? Hasn’t he undertaken an oath to give professional treatment to all patients?

PS: I have great respect for the Doctors' Community. They have the gift to treat all ailments, that makes them equivalent to God. I am not on any vendetta to black mark the Doctors' community. This the anguish of a mother who felt really helpless when her son got hurt.

satchitananda · Jan 16, 2011

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Going by your version of the events, it is surprising why a doctor whom you knew so well did not attend to your child immediately, especially in such a condition. Having said which, I wonder if there was any other reason. Was he already seeing to an emergency case inside? Do you know for sure, that none of the people who were waiting outside were equally in need of being seen? Very frequently, in our anguish or emotional moment, we miss out some thread of information, and this results in our getting upset. Please do not get me wrong. I am not trivializing your concern and anguish even for a moment. As a mother you are fully justified in thinking this way. But we do not know what the doctor's constraints were at that point of time. Very often, a doctor in this situation is in a tight spot, if he has more than one patient who wants to see him urgently. No matter whom he attends to first, someone is going to be upset. And to be fair to him, he did not refuse to see the child. He requested you to wait in the queue. Please understand, I am saying all this going by what you have said. I do not have first hand information of the circumstances in the doctor's clinic at that moment. So I am considering all possibilities.

Did you talk to the doctor later and clarify why he acted the way he did? Anyway, what did you finally do? How is your son doing now? I wish him a speedy recovery.

L0tus · Jan 17, 2011

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Thanks a lot for your reply. Appreciate ur patience in analyzing the situation and advising me. I know the story that I have posted here is just one side of the coin. Being a doctor who deals with so many people everyday, he must have had a good reason to behave in that way. I guess I will know only when I talk to him.
My son is fine, no concussions. Thanks for your concern and wishes.
I was thinking about what happened all the time andI felt a lot better after pouring out my frustration in the earlier post. I am so happy to find people to share my thoughts with thru this forum.
Thank you.

satchitananda · Jan 17, 2011

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Glad to know that your son is doing better. Wish him all the best.

DNM · Jan 18, 2011

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Sat has pretty much summed up what I would have said.

Here in the US, there are certain hospitals assigned for emergencies (ER) and if we go somewhere else, a clinic or a doctor of some other specialty, they will not treat us. We will be directed to go to the ER. The linic may help out with ordering an ambulence or doing triage but generally they will redirect us. Sometimes if one ER is too full, they will redirect patients to another one that is further away (is happening more and more now). Nothing can be done if patient dies on route. There is a lot of liability issues here in US and therfore medical personnel try thier level best to follow the book of rules set by govt, to the T. The medical profession is so stressful because of this liability that many quit after a little while, some end thier lives and not very many attempt this profession even. This means that the country is in constant need of good doctors especially in ER all the time. Because of that ERs are understaffed and therefore the bed side manner and care there is pretty bad sometimes.

I am sorry if I changed your topic. I just wanted you too see that even with a good infrastructure and system in place, it is pretty rough here too. Not as bad as in India though. Medical personnel take on immense power, stature in our eyes since when we go to them we are at our most vulnerable. They are like gods that hand us back the lives of our loved one and our own lives. We either are eternally grateful or completely disilusioned and jaded with every experience with them...

Good to know your son is doing better.

Shriya55 · Feb 14, 2011

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Good now your son is better!

DKI · Jan 31, 2014

Re: Does a DOCTOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO ANY PATIENT IN AN EMERGENCY C

Just read this post here today. I have wondered about the doctors and clinics in India. Summer 2010 we were visiting. My son had a case of diarrhea and vomiting. It was really bad so carried him at night to the nearest clinic. Not only did the doctor refuse to even see him (we were the only ones there), when my son vomited again, the attender there gave me some newspaper and asked me to clean up. We then went 2 streets down to a supposedly big hospital with an emergency room. There we were told that since there was no pediatrician on duty they cannot attend to my son, and to wait for 2 hours. We finally took and auto and rushed to Apollo hospital where he was seen immediately and treated. The doctor there even gave his home # and told us to call anytime day or night if he became worse. Wonder what happened to the hippocratic oath they took to treat all?