NAEMSP publishes position statement The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) recently published a resource document to support its position paper on expert witness testimony. The resource document articulates the organization’s standards for expert witness testimony and sets the framework for expert opinion testimony in litigation by its unique membership, which includes both physicians and […]
I sat in court the other day listening to the mantra of a plaintiff’s attorney: “They didn’t follow their own rules. They made these rules, and then they failed to follow them.” The allegation had to do with an emergency department protocol saying that all patients who came in complaining of chest pain that was […]
Two recently filed lawsuits reflect a growing trend for dissatisfied EMS customers to voice their complaints through the courts when EMS fails to transport and a patient’s condition subsequently worsens. Both incidents—one in Pittsburgh and one in Washington D.C.—occurred during severe snowstorms, indicating that patients will not tolerate any excuse for failure to respond and […]
The limited legalization of marijuana for medical use in several states has resulted in a number of interesting lawsuits being filed by employees who were terminated for having the drug in their system during work hours. Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana legislation, and employment suits are following. How the […]
In June, the state of Massachusetts revoked 211 EMT licenses after a massive investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health found that they had falsified their refresher training records. Most of the revocations were temporary, ranging from 45 days to nine months. The involved EMTs worked at 10 different private and 14 municipal services […]
The lawyer’s favorite answer to such a provocative question: It depends. A great deal hinges upon the type of system, individual state laws and a service’s available resources. Let’s take a look at the issues involved with EMS drawing blood at the request of law enforcement for evidence of DWI or other crimes. (This article […]
W. Ann “Winnie” Maggiore, JD, NREMT-P, has been a full-time paramedic, an assistant fire chief, a state EMS administrator and a criminal prosecutor. She’s currently a shareholder with the law firm Butt, Thornton & Baehr in Albuquerque, N.M., where she defends medical malpractice suits against physicians and other health-care providers and civil rights suits against law enforcement officers. She also writes on EMS legal issues, frequently lectures at national conferences and holds a clinical faculty appointment with the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine.
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