i have been seeing my psychiatrist for three years now, since i was diagnosed with bipolar. a couple of months ago i received a letter stating she will not see me due to me not being compliant with treatment. when i called to ask what it was about, she said she spoke with Margret (the person in charge of billing) (i owe 170.00) and the rest of the staff and they came to the conclusion they weren’t going to see me anymore. that means i cant see ANY DOCTOR in that office. I have been trying really hard to find another doctor with my insurance thats close to home. the ONE doctor i did find, will not see me because she is not affiliated with any hospitals and since i have been hospitalized a few times in the past she said no. another one is not taking new patients. i spoke with my current doctor and asked if she could continue filling my meds until i found someone. she said as long as i got my labs done she would do that. well i got my labs done and i tryed to get my medicine filled and she is refusing to do so. i am on lithium 600mg, klonapin, when needed, trazadone at night and seraquel 150 mg. i am out of the klonapin and lithium currently. she advised me to go to my PC which i know he will not fill meds he didn’t prescribe. I dont know what to do. my husband just lost his job, no insurance, i am worried about just stopping my meds. i just took my last dose last night. is it against the law to refuse care when the patient is on medicine and hasn’t found a replacement? and is on meds that are dangerous to just stop? i wasn’t even advised to wean myself off or anything. please help, i am desperate.
president lincoln freed the slaves. You didn’t pay and your physician is not required to work for free or to allow you to pay whenever you find it convenient.
If you’re truly desperate, call and ask doc what you need to do to show you are willing to comply with treatment then undertake to do so. You cannot legally compel a practitioner to undertake your treatment if s/he is unwilling. There are no doubt good reasons (your behavior) for doc to apply the condition to comply with treatment. You likely pose a danger to doc, yourself and others w/o full compliance. If so, you’d be hard-pressed to convince any other treator to see you on different terms. Medical care is not actually a right – it’s a private matter of contract.
A doctor can refuse treatment pretty much for what ever reason they desire and apparently this one is stopping because you did not pay the $170. Sure you paid your co-pay every time you saw her and you may feel that she got plenty of money but it seems that this $170 balance has been on the books far to long and shows no signs that you are making an attempt to pay it down.
Just so you know the decision to eliminate you as a patient was probably not the doctors decision but one that was made by the office manager. When the doctor said that she would allow refills she probably found out that it is illegal to prescribe medications for someone that is not their patient.
You may think that your PC (Primary Care) may not wish to refill a prescription that he did not order. I think that if you go to him and tell him what has happened he not only sign for the refills, he is likely going to get you into see a different psychiatrist. The problem may be that you will have to travel a bit further.
Worst case you go to the County Mental Health clinic and get your treatment there. Since your husband has lost his job you may qualify without having any co-payment of any kind