Consultants are not apt to directly tell the referring physician how he or she should treat the patient. But a radiologist’s repeated recommendations to a surgeon for clinical follow-up can come very close.

A gentleman in his mid-60s presented to the hospital for a total knee replacement. Two months later, Dr. A learned that a foreign body had been found in the patient’s lumbar spine after an MRI had been ordered as part of a sciatica workup.

In upholding a $9 million award for noneconomic damages, the Court of Appeal has found that a jury was justified in finding that a surgeon went beyond the patient’s consent in a case alleging medical battery. The 41-year-old patient sought medical care after discovering a small lump in his scrotum.

This column has frequently shown the risks of the primary care physician doing too much, but sometimes, he or she may have the tools readily available to handle an urgent situation

Though drug manufacturers’ recommended dosages and “black box” warnings do not establish the standard of care, they can certainly create a glidepath for a plaintiff’s case against a physician.