In re Baby K.

Abstract

The Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the district court ruling that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires a hospital to provide respiratory support to Baby K, an infant born with anencephaly, when she is presented at the hospital for such treatment. Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, had originally sought a declaratory judgment releasing it from any duties beyond providing warmth, hydration, and nutrition to the infant. The hospital argued that to continue treatment would be "medically and ethically inappropriate" given Baby K's prognosis. The court held that EMTALA requires hospitals and associated physicians to provide stabilizing treatment to anyone who comes in need of such care to a Medicare-participating hospital. The statute was enacted in response to hospitals' refusal of emergency medical treatment to individuals who could not afford it. The court noted that until Congress recognizes specific exceptions legislatively, hospitals will be required to provide similar care in analogous situations.