U.S. Court In Tennessee Finds Hospital Not Liable Under EMTALA For Transferring Inpatient Who Developed Emergency Condition

[Source: Health Lawyers Weekly, Vol. 6, Iss. 13 - AHLA]

A Tennessee hospital is not liable under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) for transferring a patient who developed an emergency condition 17 days after she was admitted for hemodialysis to treat her kidney disease, a federal district court in that state ruled March 24.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted summary judgment in favor of the hospital, relying primarily on 42 C.F.R. § 489.24(a)(1)(ii), which states that once a hospital “ admits [an] individual as an inpatient [in good faith] for further treatment, the hospital’s obligation under [EMTALA] ends.”

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Anderson v. Kindred Hosp., No. 1:05-cv-294 (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 24, 2008).