Pandemic Poses Legal Pitfalls: TMA Seeks Better Liability Shields.

Abstract

Under Texas law, physicians treating COVID-19 patients in a volunteer capacity have potential defenses against lawsuits that might arise from that care. But for non-volunteer physicians on the COVID battlefield - often working in harrowing, overloaded settings, high on patient count and low on equipment - the same liability shields don't exist. And with a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations taking hold in June, the Texas Medical Association continued its pandemic-long push to extend liability protections to all frontline physicians, volunteer or not.