North Carolina Hospital Settles Case Involving Patient Dumping Allegation

On January 10, 2017, Cape Fear Medical Center (Cape Fear) in Fayetteville, North Carolina, entered into a $40,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Cape Fear violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act when it failed to provide an adequate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment for a woman who presented to Cape Fear's Emergency Department in labor with her third child. The patient was discharged a little over one hour after she presented to Cape Fear. OIG alleged that Cape Fear did not properly examine the patient (including checking the progress of her labor) before the patient was discharged. The patient drove home and immediately gave birth to her child at home. Senior Counsel Sandra Sands represented OIG.

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