Title: What is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)? - FindLaw
Headings: What is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)?
What is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)?
What is EMTALA?
Does EMTALA Apply to All Hospitals?
What Actions Must a Hospital Take Under EMTALA?
1. Appropriate Medical Screening Examination
2. Stabilization of Any Emergency Medical Condition
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What If a Hospital Does Not Follow EMTALA?
What Does a Patient Have to Prove in a Lawsuit?
Is There a Penalty for Violating EMTALA?
Protect Your EMTALA Rights: Call a Health Care Attorney

Content: Suing a hospital under EMTALA is different than suing under state medical malpractice laws. EMTALA is not a substitute for suing for a wrong diagnosis or improper performance of a medical procedure. Generally, if a patient is properly given a MSE but misdiagnosed, the hospital has followed EMTALA but may be responsible for damages under state malpractice law. However, an inadequate MSE may still violate EMTALA. Many courts have concluded that an appropriate MSE is one that the hospital would have offered to any other patient with the same symptoms, regardless of whether the patient was insured or could pay for the medical screening. Therefore, a hospital violates the MSE requirement of EMTALA only when individuals who are perceived to have the same medical condition receive different treatment. Similarly, EMTALA’s stabilization requirement is intended only to regulate a hospital’s care of a patient immediately after admitting the patient for emergency care. Once a patient is admitted to the hospital and placed under the care of physicians, state medical malpractice law, not EMTALA, covers the actions of hospital and doctors. What Does a Patient Have to Prove in a Lawsuit? In a lawsuit brought under EMTALA, the patient must establish that the hospital treated them differently from other patients.