title: Legal issues when a doctor's relationship with a "difficult" patient breaks down.
abstract: The legal duties of a doctor attending a "difficult" patient with a serious condition do not end at the last consultation, especially in a small rural community. Doctors have a continuing obligation to ensure that the patient's health is not impaired because the clinical relationship has ended. This article suggests some steps that a doctor could take to fulfil the legal obligation in such a case.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. l.skene@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Loane L C
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Skene
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic