Re: NRC Proposed Fine and Severity Level 1 Violation

[BLHamrick@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 5/15/2003 12:43:49 PM Pacific Standard Time, fpdoty@SANDIA.GOV writes:


> It seems to me that the hospital staff may have perceived greater liability in being more intrusive than in letting the family member make an informed choice about getting a few rem.  Is a $6K fine a reasonable cost of doing business compared to a $6M punitive judgment for mental pain and suffering caused by physical intervention in the situation?  This is a serious question.  



This is also an excellent point.  In this case, the hospital was in many ways between a rock and a hard place: 1) Violating the regulations on the one hand, by not more proactively, physically restraining the visitors, and 2) on the other hand, intentionally inflicting emotional distress, by denying the visitors the right to spend the last few days in close, personal physical contact with their dying loved one.  It is hard to say which is more to blame:  1) Our corroded system of justice, or 2) our regulatory system that cannot seem to understand what it really means to balance benefit and harm.


Barbara