Doctors do not have the discretion to refuse to accept a person as a new patient. Typically a doctor may refuse to treat because of his busy schedule and is, therefore, unable to accept new patients. In some cases, the doctor may refuse or deny treatment on off days or go off for a holiday. Just because a doctor has received professional training of a certain type should he or she be expected to have a different ethical compass?
In our culture, doctors are held up to different standards than are other people in society. Though a doctor is equipped with a special set of skills and abilities, but at the end of the day, a doctor has the same human frailties and limitations that we all have. Every doctor has their own set of realities and compulsions and no one can impose them no matter how urgent or imperative those realities may seem. Can a doctor or hospital be sued for refusing…
