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Law360 (April 10, 2020, 4:49 PM EDT ) A New Jersey bill up for a Senate vote on Monday would insulate health care workers and companies from lawsuits stemming from their job duties during a public health emergency, a measure prompted in part by the medical equipment shortage that's plagued the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senate Bill 2333 is among a slew of coronavirus-related bills the legislature will consider during a session that will be held remotely in order to comply with social distancing protocol. The legislation extends criminal and civil immunity to doctors, nurses, physician assistants, paramedics and technologists in the event of an injury or death during coronavirus-related treatment.
Employers would be immune under the bill from claims over the shortage of ventilators and other equipment as long as they've exercised scarce resource allocation protocol outlined by state health officials.
New Jersey health care facilities and their dedicated workers are providing critical care to COVID-19 patients, but often without the resources they need, according to bill co-sponsor Sen. Tom Kean Jr., R-Union.
"Many of the challenges they face, including shortages of life-saving ventilators, are not the result of negligence but of a massive surge in need and limited national supply," Kean told Law360 in a statement. "When our region has been hit as hard by the coronavirus as anywhere in the world, we must recognize that our healthcare facilities, doctors, and nurses are doing the best they can with what they have."
He added that the workers should have "the assurance that they will not be punished for trying to save lives under these unbelievably difficult circumstances."
The immunity would extend to telemedicine practitioners, as well. It would not apply to conduct amounting to actual malice, fraud, gross negligence, recklessness and willful misconduct.
The bill also authorizes the temporary relaxation of certain professional licensing restrictions, and allows the temporary reinstatement or reactivation of emergency medical technician licenses that have lapsed in the past five years.
If signed into law, the bill would be retroactive to March 9, around the time when state officials began sounding the alarm on the importance of social distancing as the virus that purportedly originated in Wuhan, China, began permeating other countries.
Fears over the state's supply were evident on April 2. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy invoked the Disaster Control Act to authorize emergency management officials to commandeer medical supplies from private companies, if needed.
On April 3, Gov. Murphy issued an executive order, similar to Senate Bill 2333, that extends broad good-faith civil immunity to individuals and facilities providing COVID-19 response services. The order also authorized the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs to temporarily reactivate the licenses of recently retired health care professionals and grant temporary licenses to doctors licensed in other countries.
--Editing by Amy Rowe.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
