Referred to by & Referred by

[lesjaime]

Hi, may I know the difference between "Referred to by & Referred by" ?

1) My daughter was referred by her school dentist to seek a quotation for her dental braces.

2) The blog was also referred to by The BBC and CNN.

I thought we always have to use refer + to?

Please advise, thanks!

[5jj]

My daughter was referred by her school dentist to seek a quotation for her dental braces.

The 'to' is not necessarily uttered:

A hospital consultant to a patient: Good Morning, Mrs Jones. I see you have been referred (to me) by Dr Blathers.

However, your sentence is odd. I would have expected one of these:

My daughter was recommended by her school dentist to seek...
My daughter was referred by her school dentist to a specialist to seek...

If this took place in the UK, it is even more odd - dental braces are free for schoolchildren.