By Alex Stein According to the recent New York Court of Appeals’ decision—Applewhite v. Accuhealth, Inc., 2013 WL 3185185 (N.Y. 2013)—governmental immunity is a starting point for any inquiry into EMTs’ liability for malpractice. The Court based this immunity on the famous “duty to all is duty to none” principle: in providing a vital emergency…
By Alex Stein Almonte v. Kurl, 46 A.3d 1 (R.I. 2012), is a must-read malpractice decision. This decision is about a patient who was brought to a psychiatrist for involuntary committal evaluation after undergoing an acute episode. The psychiatrist examined the patient, but opened no committal process. As a result, the patient was released to…
By Alex Stein On May 31, 2013, the Supreme Court of Minnesota has delivered an immensely important decision: it recognized as actionable a patient’s increased risk of dying resulting from her doctor’s negligent failure to secure timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Dickhoff v. Green, — N.W.2d —, 2013 WL 2363550 (Minn. 2013) This case…
By Mary Ann Chirba and Alice A. Noble Given the ambitions and reach of the Affordable Care Act, confusion about its intended and inadvertent impact is inevitable. Since its enactment in 2010, the ACA has raised legitimate and less grounded concerns among various stakeholders ranging from individuals and employers facing coverage mandates to States deciding whether…
