Lewellen v. Schneck Med. Ctr.,

EMTALA

Lewellen v. Schneck Med. Ctr., No. 4:05-cv-00083-JDT-WGH (S.D. Ind. Aug. 16, 2007)

The federal District Court for the Southern District of Indiana denied the motions for summary judgment filed by the county hospital, its employees, and Medical Staff members in a case brought by a patient who alleged that he had been harmed as a result of an inadequate screening examination in the emergency room. The court found: (1) the actions of employees and Medical Staff members at a county hospital could constitute state action for purposes of alleged Constitutional violations; and (2) an emergency medical screening that was "so cursory that it was not designed to identify acute and severe symptoms" may be found not to satisfy the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ("EMTALA").

The patient suffered a fractured vertebra in a car accident. He was taken to a county hospital’s emergency department, discharged without the fracture being diagnosed, and taken immediately to jail for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Over the course of his stay in jail, the undiagnosed fracture caused permanent damage.

The patient asserted that two physicians and two nurses violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to adequate medical care as a pretrial detainee. He also claimed that the county hospital violated the screening and stabilization requirements of EMTALA. The court denied the defendants’ motions for summary judgment, finding that the cursory nature of the examination of the patient could lead a jury to conclude that the county hospital, physicians, and nurses had violated his Constitutional and EMTALA rights.