Mays v. Bracey (Summary)

EMTALA

Mays v. Bracey, Nos. 11-2158, 12-0085 (W.D. La. Feb. 5, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted a hospital’s motion for summary judgment with respect to a malpractice claim and a claim brought under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”).  Underlying the patient’s claims was her treatment at the hospital’s emergency department.  According to the patient, she had been brought to the emergency department with headaches, slurred speech, and weakness on her left side. She was screened and then discharged from the hospital.  Her symptoms persisted the next morning, and the patient was taken to another hospital where she was treated.  The patient filed suit against the first hospital.

The district court dismissed the patient’s medical malpractice claim against the hospital because it was brought before the case had been submitted to a medical review panel as required by law. The court stated that the malpractice claim could be filed after the medical review process was complete.

The district court also granted the hospital’s motion for summary judgment with respect to the EMTALA claim.  According to the court, EMTALA was not meant to be a federal malpractice statute.  An appropriate screening examination under EMTALA, “is not judged by its proficiency in accurately diagnosing the patient’s illness, but rather by whether it was performed equitably in comparison to other patients with similar symptoms.”  The hospital provided evidence that the ED physician and nurse did not believe the patient had an emergency medical condition when they discharged her from the hospital.  In granting the hospital’s motion for summary judgment, the court concluded that the patient had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that she had been treated differently based on her lack of insurance.