Jane M. Roberts, Guardian for Wanda Y. Johnson v. Galen of Virginia, Inc., Formerly Dba Humana Hospital University of Louisville, Dba University of Louisville Hospital (525 U.S. 249)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 13, 1999 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 525 U.S. 249 · 119 S. Ct. 685
- Decided
- January 13, 1999
- Term
- October Term 1998
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), as added by § 9121(b) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, 100 Stat. 164, and as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 1395dd, places obligations of screening and stabilization upon hospitals and emergency rooms that receive patients suffering from an “emergency medical condition.” The Court of Appeals held that in order to recover in a suit alleging a violation of § 1395dd(b), a plaintiff must prove that the hospital acted with an improper motive in failing to stabilize her. Finding no support for such a requirement in the text of the statute, we reverse. Section 1395dd(a) imposes a “[m]edieal screening requirement” upon hospitals with emergency departments: “[I]f any individual . . . comes to the emergency department and a request is made on the individual’s behalf for examination or treatment for a medical condition, the hospital must provide for an appropriate medical screening examination within the capability of the hospital’s emergency department.” 42 U. S. C. § 1395dd(a). Section 1395dd(b), entitled “Necessary stabilizing treatment for emergency medical conditions and labor,” provides in relevant part as follows: “(1) In general “If any individual (whether or not eligible for benefits under this subehapter) comes to a hospital and the hospital determines that the individual has an…
Excerpt of a 7,496-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.