Legal Question in Business Law in California

Does California Law permit, or prohibit this:
My Wife fractured her thumb. We found a doctor to do it and paid him, before surgery, $6,400.00 for arthroscopic surgical implant of two wire pins to stabilize the fractures on 10/26/2012. Three weeks later, on 11/4/2012, the pins need to be extracted. The doctor will only do it if we pay him $2,500.00 at his office.
We pay cash without insurance for all of our medical needs.
In short, the surgery has been paid for in full, but it is not finished, and the doctor wants to charge to finish a job that we've already paid for.
Permitted or prohibited?
Thank you,
Alan.

Asked on 12/04/12, 2:02 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

It isn't prohibited by any law that I know of; you might want to check with the local medical association to see whether it infringes any of the rules of professional ethics. Still, it seems to me that this is a valid example of pay-as-you-go pricing and billing. A lawyer handling a lawsuit might start off by charging a client $6,400 to research, prepare and file a lawsuit in a fairly complex matter, then a month or two later bill another $2,500 for, say, taking or defending depositions. I suspect there has been a misunderstanding as to the timing, etc. of the doctor's billings and/or what was included.

Answered on 12/04/12, 2:47 pm

Mark as helpful

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

Why are you so sure that "the surgery has been paid for in full"? My sense is that your payment was only for the first procedure. Do you have evidence that the doctor agreed the payment would cover both? Alternatively, can you prove that his statements and actions reasonably implied that it would -- meaning both that you believed it and that other reasonable people in your position would have believed the same thing?

Answered on 12/04/12, 2:51 pm

Mark as helpful