If a physician’s expertise is insufficient to provide a patient with necessary care, they may need to refer them to a physician qualified in the matter. For example, when a patient’s condition requires specialized care or when they are not responding to treatment.
Unfortunately, some doctors fail to refer patients when necessary. Different factors contribute to such negligence, including believing they can manage the condition with time, misinterpreting test results and failure to actively listen to a patient.
Failure to refer might be considered medical malpractice because:
Doctors have a duty of care to patients
Doctors owe patients a duty of care – they must provide patients with reasonable care, which may include referring them to specialists when needed. By not referring a patient to a specialist when necessary, a doctor might be deemed to have offered that patient substandard care, thus breaching their duty of care.
Failure to refer can harm a patient
Failing to refer a patient to a specialist could considerably harm the patient. For instance, if a doctor notices concerning symptoms of cancer and fails to refer a patient to an oncologist, the disease may progress to a life-threatening stage. If a patient exhibiting symptoms of a mental health issue is not offered a timely referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist, their symptoms may worsen, substantially affecting their overall well-being, and so forth.
Other consequences of failure to refer include additional health conditions, additional symptoms, infections becoming resistant to treatment, pain and suffering, reduced quality of life, a need for surgery, disability and death.
Failure to refer can turn into medical malpractice if the four elements of personal injury cases can be proven. These include a duty of care, a breach of that duty of care, causation and damages. If you experience this form of negligence in a healthcare setting, legal guidance can help you fight for your rights.
