[calljack]

Doctors should have the right to refuse patients just as business owners should be able to turn away potential customers.


That pesky Hypocritical oath might get in the way of that

[dagogo redux]

As an M.D. who took the oath and takes it seriously, it does not specify that we be all things to all people, nor that we give in to any demand an entitled public might make of us. If we don't accept someone as a patient, we have no duty or obligation to them, either in terms of the oath or the law.

I would think it might be therapeutic and would be in the patient's best interest for them to know that they are making decisions that undermine the doctor's ability to help them to such a degree that the doctor is not willing to accept them as a patient. It might wake them up a bit and lead to a change in their habits, which would be more therapeutic than going through the charade of enabling their behaviors with after-the-fact band-aids.

If people really want good health they are going to have to do their part, but most are too entitled and too lazy to accept that.

You should try this profession for a while before you go casting aspersions.

[ConservativeMind]

Well, I don't know what the "Hypocritical oath" says, but the Hippocratic Oath doesn't seem to say that one must provide help to everyone.