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1 1 (July 1, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdaul0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Resarh Service COVID-19 and Liability Limitations for the Health Care Sector July 1, 2020 The ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has required health care professionals and facilities to care for a surge of patients with COVID- 19 symptoms. This is occurring in a health care environment where the treatment guidelines specific to COVID-19 are still evolving and where some health care facilities are experiencing various resource shortages related to their pandemic response, including shortages in staffing as well as certain protective and treatment equipment. For some health care facilities, these shortages have also caused the delay or cancelation of non-COVID- 19 treatments or procedures. Vrious commentators and policymakers have recognized that these conditions may generate certain liability risks for the health care sector, including risks resulting from unsuccessful COVID-19 treatments, potential COVID- 19 transmission, and canceled or delayed non-COVID- 19 treatments. These risks have prompted a debate over whether the government should grant certain liability limitations to the health care sector, and if so, what the appropriate scope of those limitations should be. Since the onset of the pandemic, several states have already provided varying degrees of liability protection to their health care sector. While some stakeholders believe that robust federal liability protections may be necessary to encourage the provision of health care services and ensure the economic viability of health care facilities, others believe that such protections would reduce accountability and harm the individuals receiving care. To facilitate Congress's review of this issue, this Sidebar provides an overview of the existing federal and state limitations on liability for the health care sector that are relevant to the current pandemic before identifying several legal considerations for Congress. Background In general, individuals can file a state-law tort suit against their treating health care professionals and facilities if the professionals' or facilities' negligent or wrongful conduct results in injury. In the context of COVID- 19, several early law suits have as s erted, for instance, medic al malpractice c laimns against individual care providers for allegedly failing to diagnose and treat the condition timely and properly. As to health care facilities, plaintiffs have asserted, for instance, corporate negligence and wrongful death claims based on the facilities' alleged failure to implement procedures properly to prevent plaintiffs' exposure to COVID-19, to provide staff with adequate protective equipment, or to provide proper treatment. Several federal and state laws may limit the scope of this liability in the context of the pandemic, which the federal government and all fifty states have declared an emergency. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSBI0508 CRS Lega i&sebar Pre pa red .'o :Membersand C o m m;;fte.. o f C one sc o : C--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.............