website for medical laws?

[KCT15]

Anyone know of a website where I can look up medical laws?

For example -

What are the requirements for docs to treat individuals in a medical emergency? Are they required to use all necessary resources if the individual lacks insurance?

Details on the "good sumaritan" law protecting individuals that try to help in a medical emergency?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

What are the requirements for docs to treat individuals in a medical emergency? Are they required to use all necessary resources if the individual lacks insurance?

It's called EMTALA....try looking that up; to answer the other question: yes.

Details on the "good sumaritan" law protecting individuals that try to help in a medical emergency?

I am not a lawyer **PAGING LAW2DOC** but these standards vary from state to state, if it is present in all of them (which I do not believe it is). Also it often does not stand up in court, particularly since all they really have to prove is you did something that a prudent layperson (read as: the average person off the street thrust into your circumstance) would not do. There is a legal term I heard used once to describe these 'laws' that implies that they basically hold very little merit in court.

It also in some states does not apply to those who are medical trained including EMS personnel who are off duty. This is one major reason why many medical professionals who are off duty do not stop to render assistance (and no, before someone gets snide and tried to call me on that, there is no law in all but two or three states mandating that EMS personnel do so)

Oh and by the way, it's Samaritan (and it has to be capitalized). Now why all the questions?

 

[Law2Doc]

I am not a lawyer **PAGING LAW2DOC** but these standards vary from state to state, if it is present in all of them (which I do not believe it is). Also it often does not stand up in court, particularly since all they really have to prove is you did something that a prudent layperson (read as: the average person off the street thrust into your circumstance) would not do. There is a legal term I heard used once to describe these 'laws' that implies that they basically hold very little merit in court.

I agree that the actual laws are state by state. Good samaritan laws exist in most (if not all) states, and actually do tend to hold up in court pretty well. Generally you have to behave reasonably.

As for actually looking up medical laws, bear in mind that law schools teach the skills necessary to accurately interpret such laws, which tend to be fairly incomprehensible to laymen; you have to read statutory law a lot before you have a good sense of how it will be applied, what other provisions are meant to be read in tandem, etc. If anyone could pick up and accurately read the law, what kind of job security would a lawyer have? So while the laws of all 50 states are likely online (try findlaw.com?), you probably won't want to rely on your own interpretation.