SENATE BILL No. 184
February 8, 2001, Introduced by Senators SCHWARZ, MC MANUS, MC COTTER, HAMMERSTROM, NORTH, VAN REGENMORTER, GAST, YOUNG,
GOUGEON and SHUGARS and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1963 PA 17, entitled
"An act to relieve certain persons from civil liability when
rendering emergency care, when rendering care to persons involved
in competitive sports under certain circumstances, or when par-
ticipating in a mass immunization program approved by the depart-
ment of public health,"
by amending sections 1 and 2 (MCL 691.1501 and 691.1502),
section 1 as amended by 1987 PA 30.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 1. (1) A physician, PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT, registered
2 professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse who in good faith
3 renders emergency care WITHOUT COMPENSATION at the scene of an
4 emergency, where
IF a physician-patient relationship,
5 PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP, registered profes-
6 sional nurse-patient relationship, or licensed practical
7 nurse-patient relationship did not
exist
before the advent of
8 the emergency, shall
IS not be
liable for civil damages as a
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1 result of acts or omissions by the physician, PHYSICIAN'S
2 ASSISTANT, registered professional nurse, or licensed practical
3 nurse in rendering the emergency care, except acts or omissions
4 amounting to gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
5 (2) A physician OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT who in good faith
6 performs a physical examination
,
without compensation , upon
7 an individual to determine the individual's fitness to engage in
8 competitive sports and who has
obtained
a statement FORM
9 DESCRIBED IN THIS SUBSECTION signed by the individual or, if the
10 individual is a minor, BY the parent or guardian of the minor, IS
11 NOT LIABLE FOR CIVIL DAMAGES AS A RESULT OF ACTS OR OMISSIONS BY
12 THE PHYSICIAN OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT IN PERFORMING THE PHYSICAL
13 EXAMINATION, EXCEPT ACTS OR OMISSIONS AMOUNTING TO GROSS NEGLI-
14 GENCE OR WILLFUL AND WANTON MISCONDUCT OR WHICH ARE OUTSIDE THE
15 SCOPE OF THE LICENSE HELD BY THE PHYSICIAN OR PHYSICIAN'S
16 ASSISTANT. THE FORM REQUIRED BY THIS SUBSECTION SHALL CONTAIN A
17 STATEMENT INDICATING that
the person
signing the statement FORM
18 knows that the physician OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT is not neces-
19 sarily performing a complete physical examination and is not
20 liable UNDER THIS SECTION for civil damages as a result of acts
21 or omissions by the physician OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT in per-
22 forming the PHYSICAL examination, except acts or omissions
23 amounting to gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct or
24 which are outside the scope of the license held by the physician
25 , or
a PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT.
26 (3) A physician, PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT, registered
27 professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse who in good faith
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1 renders emergency care ,
without
compensation , AT THE SCENE
2 OF AN EMERGENCY to an
individual
requiring such EMERGENCY care
3 as a result of having engaged in
competitive sports shall IS
4 not be
liable for civil damages as a
result of acts or omis-
5 sions by the physician in
performing
the physical examination or
6 acts or omissions by the
physician,
PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT, reg-
7 istered professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse in
8 rendering the emergency care, except acts or omissions amounting
9 to gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct and except
10 acts or omissions which
THAT are
outside the scope of the
11 license held by the physician, PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT, registered
12 professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse. This subsection
13 shall apply
APPLIES to the rendering
of emergency care to
14 minors A
MINOR even if the physician,
PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT,
15 registered professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse does
16 not obtain the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor
17 before the emergency care is rendered.
18 (4) (3)
As used in this section
ACT:
19 (a) "Competitive sports" means sports conducted as part of a
20 program sponsored by a public or
private
school which THAT pro-
21 vides instruction in grades kindergarten through 12 or a charita-
22 ble or volunteer organization.
Competitive sports does DO not
23 include sports conducted as part of a program sponsored by a
24 public or private college or university.
25 (b) "Licensed practical nurse" means an individual licensed
26 to engage in the practice of nursing as a licensed practical
27 nurse under article 15 of the public
health code, Act No. 368 of
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1 the Public Acts of 1978
sections
333.16101 to 333.18838 of the
2 Michigan Compiled
Laws 1978 PA 368, MCL
333.16101 TO 333.18838.
3 (c) "Physician" means an individual licensed to ENGAGE IN
4 THE practice OF medicine or THE PRACTICE OF osteopathic medicine
5 and surgery under article 15 of
Act No.
368 of the Public Acts
6 of 1978
THE PUBLIC HEALTH CODE, 1978 PA
368, MCL 333.16101 TO
7 333.18838.
8 (D) "PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT" MEANS AN INDIVIDUAL LICENSED TO
9 ENGAGE IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE OR THE PRACTICE OF OSTEOPATHIC
10 MEDICINE AND SURGERY PERFORMED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A PHYSI-
11 CIAN AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 15 OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH CODE, 1978 PA
12 368, MCL 333.16101 TO 333.18838.
13 (E) (d)
"Registered professional
nurse" means an individ-
14 ual licensed to engage in the practice of nursing under article
15 15 of Act No. 368 of
the Public Acts of
1978 THE PUBLIC HEALTH
16 CODE, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.16101 TO 333.18838.
17 Sec. 2. (1) In
instances where
the IF AN INDIVIDUAL'S
18 actual hospital duty of
that person did
DOES not require a
19 response to that
THE emergency
situation, a physician,
20 PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT, dentist, podiatrist, intern, resident,
21 registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, registered physical
22 therapist, clinical laboratory technologist, inhalation thera-
23 pist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, x-ray technician,
24 or paramedical person
PARAMEDIC, who
in good faith responds to
25 a life threatening emergency or responds to a request for emer-
26 gency assistance in a life threatening emergency within a
27 hospital or other licensed medical
care
facility, shall IS not
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1 be liable for
any civil damages as a
result of an act or
2 omission in the rendering of emergency care, except an act or
3 omission amounting to gross
negligence
or wilful WILLFUL and
4 wanton misconduct.
5 (2) The exemption from liability under subsection (1)
6 shall DOES
not apply to a physician
where IF a
7 physician-patient relationship,
existed
prior to the advent of
8 the emergency nor
TO A PHYSICIAN'S
ASSISTANT IF A PHYSICIAN'S
9 ASSISTANT-PATIENT
RELATIONSHIP, OR to a
licensed nurse where IF
10 a nurse-patient relationship existed
prior to the advent of
11 BEFORE the emergency.
12 (3) Nothing in this
THIS act
shall DOES NOT diminish a
13 hospital's responsibility to reasonably and adequately staff hos-
14 pital emergency facilities
when IF the
hospital maintains or
15 holds out to the general public that
it
maintains such emer-
16 gency room facilities.
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