BUSI 302 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies Example

Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies: Responding to Classmates on Law and Ethics

BUSI 302 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare, Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies

Thread by [Student Name]

The classmates and their examples are composites; the textbook and the journal articles cited are real.

Reply to Marcus

Marcus, your example of the hospital that transferred an uninsured man with chest pain to a county hospital before he was stable is a clear case of what the law was written to stop. Sakhuja et al. (2026) explain that EMTALA, the federal emergency treatment law, was passed in 1986 in response to widespread patient dumping, when hospitals refused or transferred uninsured patients. Today it requires Medicare-participating hospitals with emergency departments to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilize any emergency medical condition and arrange a transfer only when it is appropriate. If the patient was unstable, the transfer you described would appear to violate the law, not just ethics. Hospitals that violate EMTALA can face civil penalties and loss of Medicare participation, and the physician involved can be penalized as well, so the stakes for the organization are high.

Your thread made a good point that EMTALA is a minimum. Sakhuja et al. (2026) note that its narrow focus on emergencies raises ethical questions about whether that minimum meets patients' broader needs. Stanifer et al. (2026) add that emergency physicians' obligations under EMTALA and professional ethics do not change with a patient's insurance or immigration status, and they outline principles for equitable care, including awareness of policies that shape patients' access. Judson and Harrison (2016) describe this pattern throughout healthcare: the law sets a floor, and ethics asks what is right above it. An administrator's role here is preventive: making sure triage staff know that insurance questions wait until after screening and stabilization, and that every transfer is documented with the patient's condition and the receiving hospital's acceptance. Do you know whether the hospital in your example was investigated, or did the transfer go unreported?

Reply to Danielle

Danielle, you argued that physicians should avoid apologizing after an error because any apology can be used in court. I understand the fear, but I think the research points another way. Ross and Newman (2021), whom I cited in my thread, found that apology laws mostly protect expressions of sympathy rather than admissions of fault. Sim et al. (2025) go further, noting that harmed patients are often driven to sue by a lack of apology and candor rather than by a desire for money, and they argue for stronger laws that protect full apologies. Heller and Souter (2024) describe disclosure as part of a physician's ethical duty, supporting informed decision-making and root cause analysis, and identify fear of litigation and inadequate training as the main barriers. They recommend training and institutional communication programs, which suggests the answer to your concern is preparation, not silence.

Judson and Harrison (2016) remind us that legal risk is one consideration in an ethical decision, not the only one. A practice that trains clinicians to disclose carefully, with risk management involved, can honor the patient and manage the risk at the same time. The choice is not between honesty and protection; it is between unplanned conversations that go badly and planned ones that tell the patient what happened, what is being done and who will stay in touch. Silence after an error rarely protects anyone; it only postpones the conversation until a lawyer is present. Would your view change if your organization had a structured disclosure program and legal support for clinicians who use it?

References

Heller, K. O., & Souter, K. J. (2024). Disclosure of adverse events and medical errors: A framework for anesthesiologists. Anesthesiology Clinics, 42(3), 529-538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anclin.2023.12.003

Judson, K., & Harrison, C. (2016). Law and ethics for the health professions (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Ross, N. E., & Newman, W. J. (2021). The role of apology laws in medical malpractice. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 49(3), 406-414.

Sakhuja, M., Ward, C., Madrigal, V., & Shapiro, J. (2026). The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act: Clinical practice and ethical considerations. Pediatric Emergency Care, 42(9), 721-727. https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0000000000003591

Sim, S. W., Krishna, L. K. R., & Porter, G. (2025). Saying 'I'm sorry' at the bedside: When and why should apologies following medical mishaps be protected from legal liability? Medical Law Review, 33(1), fwaf011. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwaf011

Stanifer, K., Smith-Bellille, T. Y., Bloem, C., Willis, J., & Aurrecoechea, A. (2026). Beyond borders: Advancing equitable care in the emergency department for migration-affected patients. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 89, 109-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2026.08.005