In late December 2017, Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught administered the wrong medication to a patient who subsequently died of an anoxic brain injury. On March 25, 2022, a Tennessee jury found her guilty of gross neglect of an impaired adult and criminally negligent homicide. Should providers – especially EMS providers – be worried that a medication error in the field could lead to jail time? Is every treatment decision potentially a basis for not only civil liability, but criminal as well? Nick and Samantha ask you to take your seat in the jury box as they discuss what actually happened. Was this case truly just an “error”, or was there more to the story? Given the facts as they were presented, and the law that applies to the case, would you have made the same decision?
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In late December 2017, Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught administered the wrong medication to a patient who subsequently died of an anoxic brain injury. On March 25, 2022, a Tennessee jury found her guilty of gross neglect of an impaired adult and criminally negligent homicide. Should providers – especially EMS providers – be worried that a medication error in the field could lead to jail time? Is every treatment decision potentially a basis for not only civil liability, but criminal as well? Nick and Samantha ask you to take your seat in the jury box as they discuss what actually happened. Was this case truly just an “error”, or was there more to the story? Given the facts as they were presented, and the law that applies to the case, would you have made the same decision?
Please like, comment, and subscribe!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Back in EMT class there was one page in the textbook that covered legal issues in pre-hospital medicine. Our world is increasingly more complicated and as a result, one page just doesn't cover it anymore. In this podcast, Sam and Nick discuss important, relevant and modern aspects of EMS law that may have been overlooked in class.