Legal liability for the acts of others: hospitals and emergency physicians

Emergency physicians as individuals, as groups, or as corporations, have medical and legal relationships with hospitals, other physicians, and nurses. These relationships sometimes result in liability for alleged negligence being applied in complex and unexpected ways. Emergency physicians may be held responsible for the acts of others. Conversely, other parties, such as hospitals, may be held liable for the acts of emergency physicians. This paper explores the history of hospital responsibility for patient care and examines how hospital policies and actions often impact on emergency care.