§ 27-27 Medical Malpractice - Abandonment

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 27-27 Medical Malpractice - Abandonment

Where the physician-patient relationship is unilaterally and prematurely terminated or disregarded by the physician without reasonable notice, the physician may be liable for abandonment.

Abandonment may occur through an explicit withdrawal from a case or through less overt behavior, such as a continued failure to attend a patient. The term "abandonment" means the unilateral severance by the physician of the professional relationship between himself and the patient without reasonable notice at a time when there is still the necessity of continuing attention.

The liability of a physician who abandons a patient can arise only where the physician intentionally and unilaterally intends to terminate the existing relationship of doctor and patient. To constitute an abandonment, the termination of...