EMTALA: Stabilization Required, Not Admission
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
December 1995
Quick Summary: The hospital refused to admit the patient because it did not accept her insurance plan. But because she was screened and stabilized before leaving the emergency room, no EMTALA violation occurred in sending her elsewhere for admission and treatment, according to the Court of Appeals of Louisiana.
The patient in this case was assessed by the ER nursing staff, had vital signs taken, was placed on oxygen, was seen by a neurologist, and was kept under observation for some hours before she was transferred to another hospital by ambulance in stable condition.
Clark vs. Medical Center, So. 2d 741 (La. App., 1995).