A 46-Year-Old Man Is Admitted to the Hospital with Constant

question 258

Multiple Choice

A 46-year-old man is admitted to the hospital with constant mid-epigastric pain for the past 5 days.  He has a history of intravenous drug use, alcohol use disorder, and chronic pancreatitis and continues to drink heavily.  He has had 3 recent admissions for pancreatitis in the past 4 months and is well known to the hospital staff.  After several days, the patient's condition stabilizes and plans are made to discharge him and refer him back to his primary care physician for a posthospitalization visit within a few days of the hospitalization.  When contacted, the primary care physician says, "I do not want to continue to be involved in this patient's care.  He does not take his medications consistently and exhibits drug-seek behaviors, and he was verbally abusive to my office staff at his last appointment when he did not receive a prescription for opioid pain medications."  Which of the following is the most appropriate step at this time?

• A)Ask the primary care physician to care for the patient until another provider is identified
• B)Inform the patient that he must be adherent in order to return to his physician
• C)Inform the patient that he will have to find another physician
• D)Inform the primary care physician that it is unethical for physicians to terminate a physician-patient relationship
• E)Report the primary care physician to the state medical board for patient abandonment

---

Definitions:

Communal Healing Rituals

Practices or ceremonies performed within a community to address collective trauma, illness, or conflict, aiming at emotional or physical healing.

Mourning Wars

Conflicts engaged in by indigenous peoples of the northeastern Americas primarily as a way to obtain captives to replace lost community members.

Iroquois

A historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy known for its political and organizational skills, encompassing several tribes.

Huron Nation

A confederation of four Iroquoian-speaking Native American tribes who lived in the Great Lakes region, known for their role in the fur trade in the 17th century.