Cintron v. Pavia Hato Rey Hosp. (Summary)

EMTALA

Cintron v. Pavia Hato Rey Hosp., Civil No. 05-2077(SEC) (D.P.R. Feb. 20, 2009)

The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico denied a motion for reconsideration by the family of a psychiatric patient who died of an overdose in the emergency room of the defendant hospital, and held that there was no violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ("EMTALA") because the patient was given a proper medical screening examination in which no emergency medical condition was found.

The family argued that although the patient was never transferred or discharged, the alleged lack of monitoring and treatment in the emergency room amounted to "constructive dumping." The court disagreed and indicated that the family failed to show that the hospital failed to conduct a proper medical screening examination to detect if the patient had an emergency medical condition. Support for this conclusion came from the family’s own medical expert who concluded that the patient showed no signs of an emergency medical condition. Consequently, the family’s claim under the "stabilization" prong of EMTALA was precluded. However, the court noted that the family’s allegation that the patient was not properly treated, or treated at all, was "separate and distinct" from the issue of appropriate screening and stabilization under EMTALA, and is more aptly asserted in a medical malpractice claim.