Retirement Home's 'No CPR Policy' Makes No Legal Sense
That nurse called 911 and refused to give CPR to the resident of Glenwood Gardens even though the dispatcher essentially begged her to do it, according to a transcript of the call.
The 87-year-old died, and the shocking story has made national headlines.
Glenwood Gardens is an "independent living facility" that isn't licensed "by law" to provide medical care, spokeswoman Andrea Turner told ABC.
It's possible that Glenwood Gardens' "no CPR" policy stems from a fear of being sued.
"They were trying to limit their liability," legal commentator Star Jones told the Today Show.
But California, like many states, has a "Good Samaritan" law that protects citizens who try to help others in good faith, one legal expert told ABC.
Here's the relevant text from California's law:
"No person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care at the scene of an emergency shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission."
This law means a lawsuit against the facility probably would have gotten dismissed.
"There's never been a successful lawsuit against someone who tried to help using CPR," Arthur Caplan, head of the Division of Bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City told ABCNews.com
Meanwhile, the facility might get sued because the nurse failed to give CPR, Star Jones told Today, noting that there are elder abuse laws in the United States.