Not really. If the patient asked the doctor to be contacted at that address, the doctor’s not on the hook for obeying their wishes.

It came from the doctor's phone. I suspect there was a miscommunication somewhere.

I've only done "polite" replies if there's clear innocence. One was to a teenager trying to guess email addresses for people involved in a college program they wanted to attend. Another was a Canadian regional employment authority trying to collect back wages from a deadbeat employer.

But someone uses my email address at a repair shop, salon, ect? Ignore. Someone puts my email address into a group discussion? Spam.

I also own my own domain. (legal name)@gmail.com sat idle for years until I found that it's easier to say "(legal name)@gmail.com" instead of ??????@(legal name).com Then I switched.