In-flight Medical Emergencies and Medical Legal Issues

摘要

To the Editor: We commend Drs. Hu and Smith for their article. The authors note that the Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 protects the Good Samaritan health care professional because there has not been a court case for in-flight medical emergency care. We agree that litigation against physicians who provide in-flight medical emergency care is rare,1 but physicians should not underestimate the potential for lawsuits. The Aviation Medical Assistance Act does not prevent a passenger or family member from initiating a lawsuit for their in-flight medical emergency care; subsequently, for the Aviation Medical Assistance Act's indemnity, physicians must demonstrate that they provided the standard of medical care. In one lawsuit for an in-flight medical emergency that the court dismissed, the physician acknowledged the personal financial losses, time to review documents, deposition session, and most of all, the significant stress related to the litigation.