Hospital accused of turning away Delaware man
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania will defend itself in court against claims the hospital turned away a Delaware man because he didn’t have health insurance.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania will defend itself in court against claims the hospital turned away a Delaware man because he didn’t have health insurance.
Marcus Murray arrived at a hospital in New Jersey with an aortic tear. The hospital arranged to have him transferred to Penn for emergency surgery, but Murray was turned away.
Accord to the lawsuit, a nurse wrote in Murray’s file that his lack of health insurance prompted the rejection.
Robert Field, a health regulation expert at Drexel Law School, says federal law prohibits insurance or finances from getting in the way of emergency care.
Field: The kind of incident in this lawsuit is fortunately quite unusual. But it’s certainly not unheard of. And this happens on a smaller scale, not infrequently. Patients appear at E.R.s and treatment is delayed or other financial considerations get in the way.
Field says doctors and nurses at hospitals are well aware of the law. And if the allegations against Penn are true, staff there had a huge lapse in judgment, not to mention ethics.
Penn Medicine’s chief of staff says Murray’s claims are unfounded.
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