ED Legal Letter – January 1, 2009

January 1, 2009

• CA Court Determines State's Damage Cap Does Not Apply to EMTALA Claim

  In a series of questionable decisions, a California federal court allowed a plaintiff to bring a "failure-to-screen" claim under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) against a hospital for what was really an ordinary state malpractice claim for "failure to diagnose," and then held that California's $250,000 damages cap wouldn't apply because the EMTALA claim was not a "professional negligence" claim as contemplated by the state's tort reform law - the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA).

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• Could giving 'unequal' care to inpatients get your ED sued?

  This story concludes a two-part series on liability risks of boarding admitted patients in the ED. This month, we report on the problem of EDs providing an unequal level of care compared to what patients would have gotten on inpatient units.

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• Special Report: Sleep Deprivation and Fatigue

  The dangers of sleep deprivation and fatigue can no longer be ignored.

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• Do Joint Commission guidelines have a legal impact on our practice?

  Emergency departments pour a lot of resources into compliance with the Joint Commission's standards, including the National Patient Safety Goals. But is there any evidence that compliance with The Joint Commission standards decreases liability risks for an emergency department?

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