Kenyon v. Hosp. San Antonio (Summary)

EMTALA

Kenyon v. Hosp. San Antonio, Civil No. 11-1883(FAB) (D. P.R. Jan. 17, 2013)

The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico dismissed an Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”) and medical malpractice lawsuit brought against a physician and his practice group by a patient who alleged that, on two different occasions, she visited an ER and was not provided with appropriate or adequate stabilizing treatment.  The court held that since physicians cannot be held personally liable under EMTALA, it did not have jurisdiction over the suit against the physician by virtue of the suit raising a federal claim.  The court noted that it could exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the patient’s malpractice claims against the physician (which are based on state laws) if the patient could show that the malpractice claims shared a common nucleus of operative facts with the EMTALA claims being lodged against the Medical Center.  The court held, however, that in this case no such common nucleus of operative facts existed.  In support of its conclusion, the court observed that the physician alleged to have committed malpractice was not present in the ER on the second visit, when the alleged EMTALA violation occurred.  Further, the two visits were separated by 23 days and the patient received medical care on numerous other occasions, from a number of other providers, in the intervening period.