New Jersey Supreme Court Rules On Applicability Of Good Samaritan Act To Emergencies In Hospitals
The New Jersey Supreme Court has upheld an Appellate Division decision that declined to apply the New Jersey Good Samaritan Act to a non-emergency-room physician who answered an urgent call for help in a hospital and attempted to resolve a crisis confronted by a patient of another doctor. The Supreme Court held that the Act, which immunizes doctors who come to the aid of persons in need of medical attention at the scene of an accident or emergency, doesn't apply when the emergency arises in a hospital. In the May 29, 2002 ruling, Justice Virginia Long wrote that, absent evidence of legislative intent to the contrary, the law applies only when emergency assistance is needed at a location lacking adequate medical facilities.
