Is a doctor's ruling to be accepted without consulting the scholars?

Question:
If a doctor issues a ruling for a patient, does the patient follow it, or is it necessary to consult a scholar in that matter?

Answer:
No, it is necessary to consult the scholars. Doctors have their own domain, and knowledge has its own people. Therefore, one does not act upon a ruling until after consulting the scholars of knowledge, whether by telephone, by sending one of them, or by phone, or by sending someone to ask them and return with the answer. It is not permissible for a doctor to issue a ruling except based on knowledge. The doctor asks, yes: "I asked so-and-so scholar, and he sees such and such." So the doctor asks the scholars. The scholars here in Makkah al-Mukarramah, and in any hospital, in any country, ask the scholars and judges of that country about what is difficult for him, so that he may issue a ruling for the patients.
So it is sufficient for the doctor to ask, and he does not issue a ruling from his own pocket; because he is not one of the people of this matter. He only issues rulings regarding what pertains to medicine. As for what pertains to religion: if he has knowledge of religion, he issues a ruling based on what he knows of the law of Allah. And if he does not have knowledge, he asks the scholars of knowledge, so that he is on certainty, and so that the ruling is attributed to its source: "So-and-so judge said it," and "So-and-so scholar said it," so that they are reassured by it, and so that it is built upon reassurance.