Legal history of emergency medicine from medieval common law to the AIDS epidemic.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Legal history of emergency medicine from medieval common law to the AIDS epidemic.

Am J Emerg Med. 1997 Nov;15(7):658-70. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98043184
Curran WJ; Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public; Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract: The early development of legal obligation in emergency medicine is traced through medieval English common law to the first stages of American law after Independence. An identifiable set of legal principles in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is described. The movement away from an absence of legal and ethical duties to answer any emergencies, or to offer any emergency services in hospitals, toward a growing demand for access to emergency services in the middle decades of the twentieth century is reviewed. The enactment of Good Samaritan Laws is described, along with other federal and state law reforms. In the modern era, there has been a substantial legal and ethical change to a requirement of extensive duties to operate open-admission emergency services in virtually all acute-care hospitals. The AIDS epidemic is utilized as a case example of expanded legal and ethical duties to offer emergency care in a nondiscriminatory manner to all patients presenting at hospital emergency departments.

Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/EPIDEMIOLOGY Disease Outbreaks/HISTORY/LEGISLATION & JURISPRUD Emergency Medicine/*HISTORY/*LEGISLATION & JURISPRUD Emergency Service, Hospital/HISTORY/LEGISLATION & JURISPRUD England Ethics, Medical/HISTORY Health Services Accessibility/LEGISLATION & JURISPRUD History of Medicine, Medieval History of Medicine, 17th Cent. History of Medicine, 18th Cent. History of Medicine, 19th Cent. History of Medicine, 20th Cent. Human Liability, Legal/*HISTORY Patient Transfer/HISTORY/LEGISLATION & JURISPRUD United States HISTORICAL ARTICLE JOURNAL ARTICLE
980228
M9820745

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Gill Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Quest Diagnostics, Roche and Trimeris, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1998. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1998. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .