Costly Advice to Go to the Hospital

Naftali, a 25-year-old kollel yungerman, was riding his bicycle to kollel one morning along the quiet streets near his home. As he approached a curb, his wheel suddenly skidded. In an instant, he lost his balance and went flying.

Naftali landed hard on the pavement. His leg hurt, but thankfully, he had been wearing his helmet, as he always did. The helmet protected his head from what could have been a serious injury.

A neighbor, Mr. Neiss, helped him slowly to his feet.

“I think I’m OK,” Naftali said, examining his leg. “It’s probably just some bruises.”

Mr. Neiss wasn’t so sure.

“You should get checked out,” he said, taking out his phone. “You could have a fracture, and you don’t want to take chances with your head, either.”

Within minutes, Hatzalah volunteers and an ambulance arrived. Mr. Neiss encouraged Naftali to go to the hospital. “You may feel fine now, but sometimes you don’t realize that you’ve suffered a concussion,” he said. “Better to make sure!”

Naftali went with the ambulance. At the hospital, the doctors examined him and quickly discharged him, confirming that there were just some bruises.

Several weeks later, though, Naftali received a large bill for the ambulance. Although he had appreciated Mr. Neiss’s concern, Naftali was frustrated about the bill he incurred.

“Why should I have to pay?” he asked his chavrusa. “If Mr. Neiss chose to call an ambulance, maybe he should be responsible for the cost?”

“The ambulance was for you, though,” his chavrusa replied.

“But I told Mr. Neiss that I was okay,” Naftali countered. “He insisted that I needed to be checked.”

“Yet, in the end, you agreed to go,” his chavrusa pointed out.

Not fully convinced, Naftali decided to ask Rabbi Dayan:

“Who is liable for the cost of the ambulance?”

“In almost all countries, the person who alerted the emergency medical system and summoned the ambulance is not responsible for its cost,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “Rather, the responsibility is on the injured person.”

“If the injured person declined to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, the ambulance company usually cannot bill him for the call. Nonetheless, if the medics performed physical tests or provided medical care at the site, the company may bill him in whole or part for these services rendered.

However, if the patient agreed to go in the ambulance to the hospital, his decision to go and avail himself of the service obligates him to pay for it. He cannot shift the responsibility to those around him who summoned the ambulance and/or suggested that he go to the hospital.

It is true that, in certain cases, when someone relies on the professional opinion of another and thereby suffers a loss, the professional carries liability for the loss. For example, if a vendor accepted a questionable coin based on the advice of a moneychanger who erroneously vouched that it was acceptable, the moneychanger is sometimes liable (C.M. 306:6).

However, there are several limitations that are relevant to our case.

First, the person must state that he is relying on the professional, or circumstances must indicate that he is relying on him alone, in assuming the potential financial risk (ibid; Shach 306:12).

Second, it must be clear that the advisor erred in his advice. In this case, the fact that Naftali was not admitted to the hospital does not mean that the trip was in vain. Often it is necessary to go to the hospital to be checked, even when there is no apparent injury. It is hard to ascertain whether the trip was frivolous.

Thus, if the injured person agreed to go in the ambulance, he implicitly accepted responsibility for any charges. In some situations, when time is not urgent and medical care during transport is not necessary, it might be cheaper to take a taxi than to travel by ambulance, but one must be cautious in making that choice.

“In many cases, especially those involving traffic accidents, the car or health insurance will cover much of the cost,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “Regardless, if the injured person consented to go, he cannot transfer the financial responsibility to the one who summoned the ambulance or advised him to go, unless he specifically made this clear and the other person’s advice proved baseless.”

Verdict: If someone was sick or injured and another person summoned an ambulance, and the patient consented to be taken to the hospital in it, the patient (or his insurance company) is liable for the cost, not the person who summoned the ambulance or advised him to go.