Arrington v. Wong

237 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P driving to his job as a security guard when he experienced difficulty breathing. One of his co-workers called for an ambulance; it arrived shortly after midnight. The ambulance left the scene at 12:24 a.m. to take P to the closest medical facility, the Queen's Medical Center (Queen's hospital). Dr. Wong was the emergency room physician on duty at Queen's hospital. The ambulance contacted the hospital emergency room by radio. They relayed the details of P's medical condition to Dr. Wong. Dr. Wong said he thought it would be okay to go to the hospital further away. The ambulance personnel took this as a directive and changed their route so as to proceed to the more distant hospital. By the time the ambulance arrived at Tripler, it was 12:40 a.m. and Arrington's condition had deteriorated. P was pronounced dead at 1:17 a.m. Ps sued Ds. Ds filed a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss (lack of subject-matter jurisdiction), Wong and The Emergency Group filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss (failure to state a claim), and the City and County of Honolulu, Clarence Uyema and Jerry Ho filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c). Ds' motions were granted. P had never 'come to' Queens emergency department. The court concluded that EMTALA applied only in the case of a patient's 'physical presence' in the emergency room. Ps appealed.