Pandemic Guidelines, Not Changed Malpractice Rules, Are the Right Response to COVID-19

Authors

Valerie Gutmann Koch
Govind C. Persad, University of DenverFollow
Wendy Netter Epstein

Publication Date

3-20-2020

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Sturm College of Law

Keywords

Pandemics, Medical malpractice, COVID, Faust

Abstract

We agree with Dr. Faust that cities and states should work to alleviate doctors’ uncertainty about malpractice liability when providing appropriate medical care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they should do that not by redefining malpractice, like New York State did this week, but by activating and publicizing pandemic response plans, like New York State’s 2015 Ventilator Allocation Guidelines, which authorize the prioritization of patients for scarce resources based on their capacity to benefit from treatment.

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Recommended Citation

Valerie Gutmann Koch, Govind Persad & Wendy Netter Epstein, Pandemic Guidelines, Not Changed Malpractice Rules, Are the Right Response to COVID-19, Bill of Health (Mar. 30, 2020), https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2020/03/30/.