Charitable immunity

In malpractice, a doctrine in use in a decreasing number of States that nonprofit, or charitable, hospitals and other health facilities are not subject to suit for malpractice. The doctrine of charitable immunity relies on and involves: waiver of the patient’s right to sue for negligence by accepting the charity; the basic unfairness, either assumed or stated, of applying a doctrine such as respondeat superior, which applies to commercial pursuits, to a nonprofit enterprise; and the increased financial demands upon the assets of the charity which might result from adverse judgments. There are exceptions to the rule of charitable immunity: a charity may be held liable for the negligence of an agent of the institution; a charity may be held liable to a stranger, i.e., one who is not a beneficiary, and, sometimes, a charity may be held liable only to the extent of its non-trust assets. The trend today is toward abolition of charitable immunity. This is based on the contention that there were illogical and conflicting bases upon which the doctrine was founded. the alleged unfairness of forcing the injured party to contribute indirectly to the charity by refusing him the opportunity to recover, and the availability of liability insurance.


 


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