According to the "Medscape Ethics Report 2016: Money, Romance, and Patients" a percentage of most physicians report they would "cherry-pick" or "lemon-drop" patients to avoid those with a comorbid disease or patients that are unlikely to follow a treatment regimen.
Eighteen percent of primary care physicians said they would "cherry-pick" or "lemon-drop"; 17 percent of specialists said the same.
Here is the breakdown by specialty:
1. Orthopedics: 38 percent
2. Plastic surgery: 38 percent
3. Urology: 27 percent
4. Gastroenterology: 24 percent
5. Hematology: 27 percent
6. Anesthesiology: 22 percent
7. General surgery: 21 percent
8. Dermatology: 20 percent
9. Diabetes and endocrinology: 19 percent
10. Rheumatology: 19 percent
11. Cardiology: 18 percent
12. Family medicine: 18 percent
13. Internal medicine: 18 percent
14. Psychiatry and mental health: 18 percent
15. Nephrology: 17 percent
16. OB/GYN and women's health: 17 percent
17. Allergy and immunology: 16 percent
18. Emergency medicine: 15 percent
19. HIV/AIDS: 15 percent
20. Radiology: 15 percent
21. Pulmonary medicine: 14 percent
22. Neurology: 12 percent
23. Oncology: 11 percent
24. Pediatrics: 9 percent
25 Pathology: 8 percent
There were some specialists who reported they couldn't take the more complicated cases because it would decrease income and put their business in jeopardy; other specialists said they advise patients with significant comorbidities about the high risk of complications and steer them toward nonoperative solutions.