Med Mal News

An Epidemic in the Making?

Researchers have analyzed the spread of a a virus known as MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome)-CoV, which was first recognized in September 2012 in specimens obtained from a Saudi Arabian man who died there of acute respiratory and renal failure.' Their results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June. Ziad A. Memish, M.D., et. al., “Family Cluster of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infectione,” N Engl J Med 2013; 368:2487-2494 June 27, 2013 DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa1303729.

According to the article, “MERS-CoV appears to be as virulent as SARS-CoV but is distinguished by the relative absence of severe disease among the close contacts of patients, except among those with immunosuppression.” Specifically, the first four patients to be identified with the illness were three men and one adolescent boy from the same extended family. They ate and socialized together, and the second, third and fourth victims visited those previously hospitalized prior to becoming sick themselves. None of the 125 healthcare providers involved in the four patients' care contracted MERS-CoV. As of May 28, 49 people worldwide had contracted the infection, 26 of whom have died. Most cases were observed in the Middle East, though there have also been deaths associated with MERS-CoV in Europe and northern Africa whose origins were tracable to Middle-East travelers. The authors conclude that although MERS-CoV is apparently not as easily passed on to others as was SARS-CoV when it emerged in 2003, a patient with a respiratory infection who has visited a Middle Eastern country within 10 days of becoming ill should raise a red flag for healthcare providers.

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EMT Who Did Not Aid Woman Will Not Be Tried

New York prosecutors have dropped charges against a New York City emergency medical technician (EMT) who, in 2009, did not render assistance to a restaurant worker who suffered a severe asthma attack. The incident occurred while the EMT was taking a coffee break at the restaurant. The restaurant employee's co-workers alerted the uniformed EMT and asked her to assist the ailing woman in the back room, but she merely phoned for help and did nothing further. Prosecutors said they had at first been informed by the EMT's supervisor that she had a duty under internal rules to help those in need when flagged down.

However, that supervisor, who is now chief of New York City's fire department emergency services unit, recently informed the district attorney's office that he now interprets the flag-down rule to mean that an EMT is obliged to help someone in need only if assigned to an ambulance or to a special event. The EMT in this case was assigned to dispatch duty.

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An Epidemic in the Making?

Researchers have analyzed the spread of a a virus known as MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome)-CoV, which was first recognized in September 2012 in specimens obtained from a Saudi Arabian man who died there of acute respiratory and renal failure.' Their results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June. Ziad A. Memish, M.D., et. al., “Family Cluster of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infectione,” N Engl J Med 2013; 368:2487-2494 June 27, 2013 DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa1303729.

According to the article, “MERS-CoV appears to be as virulent as SARS-CoV but is distinguished by the relative absence of severe disease among the close contacts of patients, except among those with immunosuppression.” Specifically, the first four patients to be identified with the illness were three men and one adolescent boy from the same extended family. They ate and socialized together, and the second, third and fourth victims visited those previously hospitalized prior to becoming sick themselves. None of the 125 healthcare providers involved in the four patients' care contracted MERS-CoV. As of May 28, 49 people worldwide had contracted the infection, 26 of whom have died. Most cases were observed in the Middle East, though there have also been deaths associated with MERS-CoV in Europe and northern Africa whose origins were tracable to Middle-East travelers. The authors conclude that although MERS-CoV is apparently not as easily passed on to others as was SARS-CoV when it emerged in 2003, a patient with a respiratory infection who has visited a Middle Eastern country within 10 days of becoming ill should raise a red flag for healthcare providers.

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EMT Who Did Not Aid Woman Will Not Be Tried

New York prosecutors have dropped charges against a New York City emergency medical technician (EMT) who, in 2009, did not render assistance to a restaurant worker who suffered a severe asthma attack. The incident occurred while the EMT was taking a coffee break at the restaurant. The restaurant employee's co-workers alerted the uniformed EMT and asked her to assist the ailing woman in the back room, but she merely phoned for help and did nothing further. Prosecutors said they had at first been informed by the EMT's supervisor that she had a duty under internal rules to help those in need when flagged down.

However, that supervisor, who is now chief of New York City's fire department emergency services unit, recently informed the district attorney's office that he now interprets the flag-down rule to mean that an EMT is obliged to help someone in need only if assigned to an ambulance or to a special event. The EMT in this case was assigned to dispatch duty.

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