Potentially Major Decision Rendered In Favor of Babies Born Prematurely.

In a case of potentially major significance for babies born prematurely and/or with disabilities, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled July 13 that children born in hospital birthing facilities that receive federal funds must be given medical screening for emergency conditions, regardless of age or disability.

The decision involved a suit brought by Shannon Preston and Charles Johnson, the parents of Bridon Johnson, against Meriter Hospital. The parents claimed medical malpractice and violations of the federal Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) because Bridon was not screened or treated after his premature birth. Bridon died 2 1/2 hours later.

According to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, "The complaint alleges that Meriter not only failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination but also did so because Shannon Preston and Bridon Johnson lacked private health insurance."

Much of the decision turned on an exceedingly intricate reading of certain passages found in EMTALA.

Meriter Hospital of Madison, Wisconsin, took the position that it had no obligation to screen newborns in its birthing facility because its birthing center is not "the emergency department." (The hospital also argued the baby was an "inpatient"--as opposed to someone who "comes to the hospital"--and thus the EMTALA screening requirement did not apply.)

The parents countered, according to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, that this "is not consistent with the intent of EMTALA, and that a hospital's emergency department encompasses its birthing center."

On July 13, 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed lower court decisions which held the EMTALA's screening requirements do not apply to newborns unless the infant arrived at a hospital emergency room.