Good Samaritan legislation re-introduced in House of Representatives
A bipartisan bill to empower medical volunteers to deliver health care during large-scale disasters was re-introduced this month in the House of Representatives.
The H.R. 5239, the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act, offers patients and medical professionals a streamlined approach to facilitate access to care for disaster victims without altering a state’s liability laws.
“The threat of medical liability lawsuits often deters qualified health care professionals looking to provide critical care to disaster victims during a time of urgent patient needs,” said HCLA Chair Mike Stinson. “As we have seen over the past year and a half, in particular, the willingness and ability of these medical professionals to shift to disaster hot spots must be supported by federal legislation that ensures health care providers can volunteer to provide critical care services outside of their home state.”
The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act reconciles current inconsistencies in state laws that may reduce the ability of health care professionals to be available to treat disaster victims, especially when applied to large-scale disasters that may cross state lines and affect patient care.
Companion legislation is expected to be introduced shortly in the Senate.
To read the industry support letter for the bill, click here.
COVID-19 emergency leads to protections for Hawaiian health care providers
Health care providers and facilities in Hawaii have received extended protection from lawsuits for decisions made while providing care in good faith during the COVID-19 crisis.
The executive order issued by Governor David Ige extends previously issued limited civil immunity to facilities that were forced to cancel or postpone elective surgeries, implemented the state’s “crisis standards of care triage allocation,” and conserved scarce medical resources, such as oxygen, at the direction of the state Department of Health.
Professionals and volunteers “that in good faith comply completely with all state and federal orders regarding this emergency, shall be immune from civil liability” for any death, injury or property damage alleged to have been caused by any act or omission in responding to the COVID-19 emergency.
Exceptions are built into the executive order for cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or recklessness.
“It’s important to make sure the physician or nurse or any other health care provider that’s caring for COVID patients in an emergency, when their resources are stretched, that they not feel because the environment isn’t perfect, that somehow they’re liable when they’re doing their best,” said Dan Brinkman, Hawaii Health Systems Corp. East Hawaii Regional CEO.
To read more about the Hawaiian health care protections ordered in response to COVID-19, click here.
Arizona ruling upholds requirement for affirming expert witness testimony
The Arizona Supreme Court took steps to reduce medical lawsuit abuse in the state, with a ruling that details the need for ‘sufficient’ expert witnesses to educate juries serving in medical liability trials.
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled that cases involving unclear causes of death or other injury cannot move forward without sufficient expert witness testimony guiding jurors.
This ruling was in support of current Arizona law, requiring that medical liability plaintiffs ‘provide testimony on what caused a death or injury unless a jury could make that determination from “readily apparent circumstances.”’
Their decision deemed it improper to have jurors untrained in medicine “connect the dots” without adequate expert testimony to lay a foundation, the Supreme Court said.
To read more about the ruling and the impact on what juries can infer when lacking adequate expert witness testimony, click here.