title: Good Samaritan statutes: a malpractice defense for "doing the right thing".
abstract: Vascular surgeons are often called emergently to help treat bleeding patients. These cases may involve unexpected intraoperative bleeding, bleeding in the pregnant patient, or bleeding in patients in the emergency room. In many instances, the vascular surgeon is not "on call" and therefore has no legal duty to assist in the care of these patients. Unfortunately, because many of these types of cases result in litigation, some vascular surgeons refuse to respond to a call for help. Simply, it is important that vascular surgeons "do the right thing" and answer these requests for assistance. The legal system recognizes the need to protect physicians who appropriately respond and, therefore, Good Samaritan statutes were adopted.
authors.affiliation: William Beaumont Hospital and Wayne State University School of Medicine, Bingham Farms, Mich 48025, USA. owbmd@aol.com
authors.forename: O William
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D003675:Defensive Medicine / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007882:Legislation, Hospital / Q000941:ethics; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028681:Moral Obligations; D028743:Professional Misconduct / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*