Martin v. The Fulton-Dekalb Hosp. Auth.

Martin v. The Fulton-Dekalb Hosp. Auth.
No. A01A0438 (Ga. Ct. App. July 2, 2001)

The parents of a premature baby sued a health system, alleging that the neonatal
transport team administered an overdose of blood thinner to the baby, causing
physical and mental impairment. The health system argued that Georgia state
law provided immunity for emergency services for which the system did not receive
remuneration. The lower court ruled that the health system was entitled to statutory
immunity for providing emergency services for no compensation.

On appeal, the parents argued that because the health system received remuneration
for emergency services rendered in the form of Medicaid, the health system could
not claim immunity under Georgia state law. The health system argued that the
Medicaid payments received for the ambulance service rendered to the baby did
not cover medical services during the transport, but instead were only "transportation
fees" that would allow the system to invoke the immunity statute. The Court
of Appeals of Georgia reversed the lower court and ruled that the Medicaid payments
given to the health system did constitute remuneration. Because the Georgia
legislature did not intend to give immunity to entities that would receive remuneration
or payment for services, the court held that the system could not invoke Georgia’s
immunity statute.