this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Leopards Ate My Face

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

EMTALA does not apply once the patient has been admitted to the hospital. It applies to ER care only.

There is no medicolegal standard for "life-threatening" That determination is, to a degree, subjective.

In many cases, a patient will come to the ER in a non life threatening clinical state and get sicker following admission. EMTALA no longer applies to these patients.

If, in retrospect, a doctor performs an abortion and its decided that the mother's life was not at risk, they face a felony charge.

Per the Texas Supreme Court, exceptions apply only when death or serious physical impairment is imminent (which is probably too late to save the patient and have a good functional outcome, unfortunately)

The problem here is legislation. There is no medical error. Practitioners are making a risk-benefit assessment and choosing not to martyr themselves.

I feel that you're not familiar with medical practice and are oversimplifying a very complex issue.