Alleged Discrimination Based on Medical Decisions Must Be Brought as Malpractice Claims
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court’s dismissal of a patient’s lawsuit which alleged that the hospital where she gave birth discriminated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and several state laws. The appeals court affirmed the dismissal of the claims which alleged discrimination related to medical decisions, such as whether to provide the patient with an epidural, among other things, holding that those claims must be brought as malpractice claims. However, it reversed the lower court and held that other allegations, such as the decision to drug test all patients taking a certain drug and to report such individuals to child welfare authorities, were properly raised by the patient as disability discrimination claims, since those did not relate to medical decision-making, but, rather, were discriminatory inferences drawn about those suffering from substance use disorder. Costin v. Glen Falls Hosp.
