Doctor care

[cowgirl718199]

What is the name of your state? Missouri

I help take care of an elderly gentleman. He has been hospitalized 3 times in the past 2 years for low sodium. About a week ago, I asked his primary care doctor to run two tests, one for sodium levels and one to check if his thyroid medicine was working effectively. The doctor refused citing insurance as a reason. Problem is insurance isnt a factor to the doctor as the lab tests are done through an outside lab. The doctor wanted to wait two weeks to see him. Yesterday, we switched doctors and the other doctor picked up on a symptom that the first doctor had repeatedly missed and sent him to the er where he again was admitted into the icu for the same symptoms that admitted him 2 other times. My question is does a doctor have the right to refuse to run tests that are medically necessary based on patient history and if not what should be the next steps taken. Happy with the new doctor but feel like the old doctor is going to actually kill someone someday.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The doctor is who decides what is medically necessary. Missing a Dx isn't either necessarily or even often a signal of malpractice.

 

[cowgirl718199]

The doctor is who decides what is medically necessary. Missing a Dx isn't either necessarily or even often a signal of malpractice.

Problem is the new doctor agrees that the tests WERE medically necessary. The patient has hypothyroidism and a history of low sodium.

 

[Zigner]

But...you're at the point of "no harm-no foul". The man suffered no ill effects by tests not having been run previously.

ETA: What specialty is your MD in that allows you to determine medical necessity?

 

[cowgirl718199]

Yes he did. He is in the icu.

 

[Just Blue]

Yes he did. He is in the icu.

What do you want to do about this? What do you think you have the legal ability to do about this? Does this elderly man that is currently in the ICU know that you are posting about his personal medical matters on the internet?

 

[Zigner]

And you can show that having run the test previously would have led to a different outcome?

Again, what is your specialty?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Missouri

I help take care of an elderly gentleman. He has been hospitalized 3 times in the past 2 years for low sodium. About a week ago, I asked his primary care doctor to run two tests, one for sodium levels and one to check if his thyroid medicine was working effectively. The doctor refused citing insurance as a reason. Problem is insurance isnt a factor to the doctor as the lab tests are done through an outside lab. The doctor wanted to wait two weeks to see him. Yesterday, we switched doctors and the other doctor picked up on a symptom that the first doctor had repeatedly missed and sent him to the er where he again was admitted into the icu for the same symptoms that admitted him 2 other times. My question is does a doctor have the right to refuse to run tests that are medically necessary based on patient history and if not what should be the next steps taken. Happy with the new doctor but feel like the old doctor is going to actually kill someone someday.

Some doctors are too wrapped up in what insurance will or won't cover, that they are unwilling to accept that a patient might prefer to pay for the treatment that the insurance won't cover, rather than going without. This does not necessarily mean that the doctor deliberately ignored something emergent. When someone runs into a doctor like that, and it doesn't suit their care needs, then they should make the option that your elderly gentlemen made, to find a new doctor.

 

[cowgirl718199]

I have doctors backing me up. I have medical poa.

 

[Zigner]

I have doctors backing me up. I have medical poa.

Fine, go talk to a medical malpractice attorney.

Good day.

 

[Just Blue]

I have doctors backing me up. I have medical poa.

A medical POA gives you the legal ability to make medical choices for the gentleman IF he is incapacitated. It doesn't give you the right to post his medical problems on the net. Or to file a law suit.

So again I ask you....What legally do you think you can do?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? Missouri

I help take care of an elderly gentleman. He has been hospitalized 3 times in the past 2 years for low sodium. About a week ago, I asked his primary care doctor to run two tests, one for sodium levels and one to check if his thyroid medicine was working effectively. The doctor refused citing insurance as a reason. Problem is insurance isnt a factor to the doctor as the lab tests are done through an outside lab. The doctor wanted to wait two weeks to see him. Yesterday, we switched doctors and the other doctor picked up on a symptom that the first doctor had repeatedly missed and sent him to the er where he again was admitted into the icu for the same symptoms that admitted him 2 other times. My question is does a doctor have the right to refuse to run tests that are medically necessary based on patient history and if not what should be the next steps taken. Happy with the new doctor but feel like the old doctor is going to actually kill someone someday.

A drop in sodium levels is a common complication of hypothyroidism and potentially can be a medical emergency if the sodium level drops too low or too rapidly. There should be regular sodium level checks on people with hypothyroidism for this reason.

That said, a doctor uses his medical knowledge and his discretion to determine what tests are medically necessary and what tests are not.

A patient may present with symptoms of low sodium at the time of a doctor's office visit, prompting a doctor to order tests (or hospitalization), or there may be no symptoms present that indicate an immediate need for tests (or hospitalization).

The doctor's recommendation to wait two-weeks, in other words, might not be unreasonable or below the standard of reasonable care expected from a doctor. Sodium levels can drop quickly so, in the week between the first doctor's examination and the second doctor's visit, the condition of the elderly gentleman might have been significantly different.

For a medical malpractice claim, the elderly man would need to prove among other things that there was a failure to diagnose a medical condition that should have detected, or there was a dangerous delay in treatment for a medical condition that should have been detected, or there was an improper treatment of a medical condition that should have been detected.

In addition, there must be demonstrable injury caused as a direct result of the doctor's failure(s), and significant damages (economic and/or noneconomic).

Medical-malpractice attorneys will (as a rule) review medical malpractice claims at no cost and will (as a rule) take cases on a contingency basis (they don't get paid if you don't get paid).

You can contact attorneys in your area and find one who will meet with the elderly man for a personal review.