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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is investigating two hospitals that “failed to provide necessary stabilizing care to a person experiencing an emergency medical condition, in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA),” according to a letter the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States, Xavier Becerra.
Under EMTALA, health professionals must “offer treatment, including abortion care, that the provider reasonably determines is necessary to stabilize the patient’s emergency medical condition,” Becerra said Monday in her letter to the national abortion associations. hospitals and providers.
He National Women’s Law Centerwhich said in a statement that it filed the initial EMTALA complaint on behalf of Mylissa Farmer, identified the hospitals as Freeman Hospital West of Joplin, Missouri, and the University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas.
The patient was nearly 18 weeks pregnant when she had a premature rupture of membranes before term, Becerra wrote, but was told her pregnancy was not viable.
“Although her doctors warned her that her condition could deteriorate rapidly, they also warned that they could not provide care that would prevent infection, bleeding and potentially death because, they said, hospital policies prohibited treatment that could be considered an abortion,” Becerra wrote.
Becerra added in a statement Monday, “Fortunately, this patient survived. But she should never have gone through the ordeal that she experienced in the first place. We want her, and all patients like her, to know that we will do everything possible to protect their lives and her health, and to investigate and enforce the law to the fullest extent of our legal authority.”
Abortion is prohibited in Missouri, with limited exceptions, such as to save the life of the mother. State law requires counseling and a 72-hour waiting period. In Kansas, abortion is generally prohibited after 22 weeks of pregnancy, with a 24-hour waiting period and counseling required.
Passed in 1986, EMTALA requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to patients who have emergency medical conditions, or to transfer them to facilities where such care will be provided, regardless of any conflicting laws or state mandates.
Changes in state laws in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision striking down the right to abortion have left many hospitals and providers unsure or confused about what steps they can legally take in such cases. HHS issued guidance last year, reaffirming that EMTALA requires providers to offer stabilizing care in emergencies, which could include abortion.
Hospitals that violate EMTALA could lose their Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements and face civil penalties. An individual doctor could also face civil penalties if she is found to have broken the law.
HHS may impose a fine of $119,942 per violation for hospitals with more than 100 beds and $59,973 for hospitals with fewer than 100 beds. A doctor could face a fine of $119,942 per violation.
The National Women’s Law Center says the new actions are the first time since Roe v. Wade that EMTALA is sued against a hospital that denied emergency abortion care.
“The hospital reviewed the care provided to the patient and found it to be in accordance with hospital policy,” the University of Kansas Health System said in a statement to CNN. “He met the standard of care based on the facts known at the time and complied with all applicable laws. There is a process with CMS for this complaint and we respect that process. The University of Kansas Health System complies with Kansas and federal law in providing quality, stabilizing, and appropriate care to all of its patients, including obstetric patients.”
Freeman Hospital did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
An HHS spokesperson told CNN that both hospitals are working to comply with the law.
In the legal center’s statement, Farmer said she was pleased with the investigations, “but pregnant people across the country continue to be denied care and face increased risk of complications or death, and it must stop. She was already dealing with an unimaginable loss, and the hospitals made things that much more difficult. I’m still emotionally struggling with what happened to me, but I’m determined to keep fighting because no one should have to go through this.”
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