What is My Doctor Allowed to Do?

We had several readers ask questions on the site recently about doctor conduct, and what their doctors are legally allowed to do. This is a wide ranging topic area and I won't try to cover all of it in this sharepost, but will dip into it to address these two questions. This sharepost is legal education, not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created.

The first question dealt with the area of doctor-patient confidentiality. Mel asked: "Can a doctor that has your medical records talk bad about you to the new doctor he is sending records to? If a doctor no longer wants to treat you and sends the new doctor your medical records and suggest to the new doctor not to treat me is that allowed?"

It's a little hard to understand from your question exactly what's going on, Mel. I'm assuming that you signed a release for your former doctor (let's call him Dr. One) to send your records to the new doctor (Dr. Two). What's not clear is whether you somehow found out that Dr. One has said negative things about you, and suggested that Dr. Two not treat you, or whether you are just worried that he might do that.

First of all let me say that a doctor has the right to refuse to treat a patient, except in an emergency, and except for reasons of racial, ethnic, religious or gender discrimination. This applies to both doctors, and Dr. Two could review your medical records and decide he or she does not want to treat you.

That said, you can only give up your right of doctor-patient confidentiality specifically and in writing. (There are exceptions to the rule which vary state by state, and usually cover issues such as contagious diseases, violence, sexual abuse, and child abuse, which can be revealed by physician where the laws of the state allow or require them to do so.)

How this applies to your question is that if you signed a release for your medical records only, this only gave Dr. One permission to send on your records. If the release gave Dr. One permission to discuss your case with the new doctor, then Dr. One can probably say anything he wants as long as he is clear that he is expressing his opinion based on your case. If he said something defamatory (things which are not true and reflect badly on your character) about you, then you could have a reason to bring legal action against him.

The more important question is what can you do about it? Is Dr. Two refusing to treat you? If so, would he or she be willing to talk to you about it, and hear your point of view? I would get a look at the release form you signed. Did you give Dr. One permission to talk about your case? If not, I would suggest you consult an attorney.

The second question dealt with what a doctor can charge for filling out SSDI forms. Nanner1 asked: "Can a doctor legally charge $200.00 to fill out SSDI forms? The women I handed them to said it doesn't take more than 45 minutes or so to fill out. Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?"

Nanner1, I am sorry to inform you there is no limit to what a doctor can charge you to fill out these forms, unless by some chance filling out the forms is covered by an insurance contract, or other private pay program. I have never heard of one that covers it, but I cannot be sure that there isn't one.