Early last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed sweeping legislation offering civil and criminal immunity to certain health care professionals and health care facilities battling COVID-19, retroactively effective March 9, 2020.
The new law does not apply to health care services or procedures performed by health care professionals that are unrelated to the COVID-19 emergency (including, but not limited to orthopedic procedures, OB/GYN services and necessary cardiological procedures).
Application of this law requires careful consideration, and therefore, it is strongly encouraged that health care providers adopt formal written institutional policies and procedures relating to the same.
For more information regarding the specific requirements of the law and its applicability to health care providers, please see our recently issued Health Law Alert. The law can be accessed at the following links – S-2333/A-3910.
We note that the practitioners in Fox Rothschild LLP’s White Collar Criminal Defense & Regulatory Compliance practice group are adept at navigating the lines of defense necessary to protect health care workers, health care facilities and health systems, including in the exigent circumstances of a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.