Crisis standards of care, the possibility of rationing scarce resources, and constraints placed on care activities usually provided as standard of care, have raised concerns about the potential liability of healthcare providers working during this pandemic. Healthcare workers, in turn, have called for immunity from civil and criminal liability when they act in good faith, and according to available guidelines, in crisis circumstances. Further, some healthcare workers who have spoken out to the media about the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been threatened with retaliation by their employers. Can they sue institutions for this actual or threatened retaliation? Could institutions be liable to their employees (for negligence if their employees acquire COVID-19 because of a failure to provide the PPE) or to patients who believe the acquired the virus because their caregivers lacked PPE? Diana Hoffman, JD (University of Maryland) and facilitator Elizabeth Van Nostrand, JD (University of Pittsburgh) will discuss these questions and how relevant laws differ across jurisdictions.
View online here.
Co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center and the Center for Bioethics & Health Law