Doctor Who Fails to Provide Patient with Interpreter Gets Whacked
Doctors and hospitals got a sharp reminder about their need to provide interpreters for hearing impaired patients.
A Hudson County New Jersey jury awarded $400,000 to Irma Gerena who claimed that she was unable to participate in and understand her medical condition in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination when her physician, Dr. Robert Fogari, failed to provide her with an interpreter.The verdict was reported in the New Jersey Law Journal last October.
According to the story, the plaintiff Irma Gerena was being treated for lupus. During the multiple office visits with her rheumatologis, Gerena, who had limited English skills and was deaf, claimed that she was unable to understand what her doctor was doing including :
- the treatment she was receiving,
- its risks or benefits, and
- what alternative approaches may have been available.
Gerena repeatedly requested an American Sign Language interpreter and gave Dr. Fogari an interpreter’s business card. She also had the interpreter call the doctor and explain the law to him.
Dr. Fogari claimed that he could not afford the interpreter’s charge of $150 to $200 and hour since he was only being reimbursed $49 per visit Gerena’s medical insurer. The jury sided with Gerena.
A previous New Jersey decision Borngesser v. Jersey Shore Medical Center held that the law’s requirement of “auxiliary aids and services " meant that "interpreters, video displays and note takers" may be necessary for “effective communication” during critical points of a patient’s care.
Doctors and hospitals need to be prepared to provide interpreters and patients need to be educated as to their rights to request them. The law provides that patients with severe hearing impairments should not be precluded from understanding and participating in their medical care and treatment as a result of their disability.
Physicians who recklessly disregard the law or retaliate in the face of a patent's request may face a stiff penalty. Of the $400,000 jury award to Gerena, $200,000 was for punitive damages -- so doctors beware -- there's more to come.
Image: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs_ez/images/drnpatient.jpg
