Opinion ID: 201731
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: EMTALA stabilization claim

Text: 17 The plaintiffs also assert a claim under EMTALA's stabilization requirement, which provides that 18 [i]f any individual . . . comes to a hospital and the hospital determines that the individual has an emergency medical condition, the hospital must provide . . . 19 (A) within the staff and facilities available at the hospital, for such further medical examination and such treatment as may be required to stabilize the medical condition. 20 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd(b)(1)(A). The statute defines an emergency medical condition (for an individual not in active labor) as 21 a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in (i) placing the health of the individual. . . in serious jeopardy, (ii) serious impairment to bodily functions, or (iii) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. 22 Id. § 1395dd(e)(1)(A). 23 In support of their stabilization claim, the plaintiffs point to Auxilio Mutuo's acknowledgment, in its motion for summary judgment, that [i]f the patient [had] referred a complaint of chest pains, he would have [had] . . . an emergency condition, [and] therefore the hospital [would have been] obliged to stabilize the patient. Emphasizing this concession, the plaintiffs assert that if we accept that Cruz complained of chest pains during his August 31 visit, we must also conclude that the hospital had a duty to stabilize the heart condition that culminated in a heart attack on September 1. We agree. 24 At this stage of the proceedings, as we have already explained, we must draw the inference that the hospital knew that Cruz was suffering from chest pain. By its own admission, then, the hospital also knew that Cruz was suffering from an emergency medical condition and had a duty to stabilize that condition. Auxilio Mutuo therefore was not entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiffs' stabilization claim. 6