Fewins v. CHS/Community Health Sys., Inc. — Jan. 2016 (Summary)

EMTALA

Fewins v. CHS/Community Health Sys., Inc.
Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-0898-M (N.D. Tex. Jan. 25, 2016)

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment in favor of a medical center with regard to EMTALA claims filed on behalf of a six-year-old child. The child was brought to the emergency room of the medical center by his mother because of a pain in his leg from a fall that had occurred six days earlier. The nursing staff performed a triage assessment and measured the child’s vital signs. The child rated his pain as a 10 on the Wong-Baker face scale. An emergency physician examined the child and noted contusions on both of his hips. The physician ordered lab tests and a CT scan, which revealed an elevated white blood cell count and a hematoma/seroma on his right hip. After receiving these results, the physician discharged the child with instructions to take medication and to follow up with his pediatrician. The next day, the child was taken to an emergency room of a different hospital with a fever and swelling and tenderness in his leg. Test results revealed the child was suffering from a bacterial infection, which was later diagnosed as MRSA. The child was hospitalized for a little over a month and underwent several surgeries.

The child’s parent brought on EMTALA action against the original medical center, claiming the medical center did not provide the child with an appropriate screening examination and that the child was not stabilized prior to being discharged from the medical center. The patient also argued the medical center nurses had been negligent with regard to the child’s treatment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the hospital with regard to the screening claim, holding that the patient failed to provide evidence that individuals who were perceived to have the same medical condition as the child received disparate treatment. The three individual cases presented by the child’s representatives involved an elderly man with a history of severe medical conditions, a 59-year-old man taking at least ten medications at the time he was admitted to the hospital, and an elderly woman suffering from dementia. Additionally, the district court rejected the patient’s argument that the medical center failed to follow its own pain management policy, noting the patient had not established the pain management policy was an emergency room screening policy which served the basis of an EMTALA claim.

With regard to the patient’s stabilization claim, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the medical center, holding that, because the physician did not perceive the child as having an emergency medical condition, the medical center had no duty to stabilize the child. The physician diagnosed the child with a contusion and noted in the medical record that the child seemed to “play up” the severity of the pain depending on who was in the room, which was corroborated by the child’s mother. Additionally, the district court granted summary judgment with respect to medical negligence claims brought against the nurses in the medical center, holding that the nurses’ actions in treating the child did not amount to gross negligence under Texas law.