>Interesting discussion, the laws may be different in PA than CT. In CT malpractise is not an available remedy if the situation was without payment as in offering assistance at an accident scene or as you said in a rest. In that case the Doctor may be held liable for negligence and his level of care for constituting negligence may be higher than a lay person offering the same intervention, however he is not held to the same standard that he would be if he were in his official practice. The law was passed in CT to create a situation wehre doctors and nurses would be more willing to offer their assistance at these very situations after it became known that situation were occuring where they did not offer to assist due to the liability exposure without their employer's insurance protection coverage (that is they ouwld have been acting outside of their job).
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It would appear in CT - the legislators picked up where the common law left off. In PA, believe it or not, and I know this is a slightly different topic - there is no informed consent. If a doctor fails to advise you of certain risks and you go through the treatment and some injury/damage results - you need to go after him on a charge of battery - not malpractice. Pretty weird...


>I was aware, although it may no longer be true, that in the past some states actually ahd laws on the books that made it a crime for a health care professional to NOT offer assistance at an emergency situation.

In France, this applies to the ordinary person as well. In this country, historically, there has never been a duty to act if you did not create the condition. This of course is based on common law. I would not be surprised that in some parts of the country, the duty arises through a statutory process.

< jvp >