Nelson v. Calvin,
No. Civ.A. 01-2021-CM (D. Kan. July 9, 2001)

In Nelson v. Calvin, the parents claimed that, after taking their infant son to the emergency room of the hospital, the attending doctors sent them home with their child without stabilizing his medical condition and without performing appropriate screening and testing to determine the cause of their son's illness. The infant died of fulminant meningoccemia 12 hours after discharge from the emergency room.

In granting the motion to dismiss in part, the district court ruled that EMTALA only permits an individual to sue participating hospitals. Thus, the claim under EMTALA could not proceed against the individual doctors. However, the remaining EMTALA claim against the hospital was substantial enough that the court could exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state medical negligence claims.