Moses v. Providence Hosp. and Med. Ctrs. (Summary)

EMTALA

Moses v. Providence Hosp. and Med. Ctrs., Inc., No. 07-2111 (6th Cir. Apr. 6, 2009)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed summary judgment that had been granted in favor of a hospital in an Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ("EMTALA") case brought by the estate of a woman who was murdered by a psychiatric patient ten days after he was released from the hospital.

The court held that the estate of the deceased woman had standing to bring a claim under EMTALA because the Act provided protections not only for patients, but rather for any individual harmed as a direct result of a hospital’s violation of EMTALA. The court also held that a hospital’s EMTALA obligations do not end when the hospital admits a patient. Explicitly rejecting contrary regulations promulgated by CMS, the court held that "EMTALA requires a hospital to treat a patient with an emergency condition in such a way that, upon the patient’s release, no further deterioration of the condition is likely."