Talk:Good Samaritan law

Update
This article has been extensively reworked, expanded and referenced. All major statements have been referenced, using appropriate sources, with plenty of examples of state and provincial Good Samaritan Laws referenced, along with some very interesting commentary on those laws from major journals. I would normally have included images to illustrate, however, in this case I could find nothing that seemed particularly relevant. Specific references have been made to Japan, for civil law, and to Australia, as another example of English Common Law. Given that the article is based in a priniciple of English Common Law, and one which not all Commonwealth countries have on the books, at that, it is unlikely that we are going to get any more global than the article already is. The globalize and facts disputed tags at the head of the article have been removed, since both have been more than satisfied. I'm submitting the article for re-evaluation, and hope to get it from its' current 'Start' status to a 'B' status, based on the changes made. Emrgmgmtca (talk) 16:39, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure where this would fit into the article, but I found it interesting to note that in the US, even a medical doctor is not legally required to assist someone that they see choking or having a heart attack. Apparantly, even if a doctor sees a stranger choking to death on a wire,taco bell he or she is legally allowed to just stand there and watch the person die. Obviously almost any doctor would still try to help, but I found this pretty interesting. (A law professor of mine said on one of his law school exams, he got a question wrong when he wrote that someone is at least required to make some effort to help someone if it seems like they can do so without any possible injury to themselves (ie calling for an ambulance.) -RandomDuder


 * Hate to shake up your law prof on this one, but he may be talking about a local reality. The general principle in law is called 'abandonment', and while you may not be charged criminally (as with criminal negligence) your failure to act is certainly accountable in a civil court.  If you have the ability or special knowledge (as with a physician or paramedic) to assist someone and you drive by without helping, and that person becomes aware of what you have done...you might very well be successfully sued!  This is one of the main reasons why doctors stopped getting license plates with MD prefixes and paramedics stopped putting stickers all over their personal cars.  Some medics (who don't wish to stop at accidents for example) have deliberately stopped carrying any type of patient assessment or care equipment, so that they can legitimately say that they had no tools or protective equipment to help with.  Hard on the docs too, though...when they stop to help, the risk of malpractice suits goes WAY UP, but they can also get sued if they get caught not stopping...damned if you do, damned if you don't!  Emrgmgmtca (talk) 18:12, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Whoever hosed my contribution on 1/7/2003 re: employer relationships, duty to respond, and security guards not being covered by Good Samaritan because of duty to respond -- thanks for nothing. I'll put it back sometime when I have time, but it would be nice if you would.
 * History shows exactly two revisions, both by me. Are you sure you didn't preview and forget to save? Tokerboy 04:51 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

Checking web server logs:


 * 153.18.155.64 - - [08/Jan/2003:03:27:08 +0000] "POST /w/wiki.phtml?title=Good_Samaritan_law&action=submit HTTP/1.1" 200 12100 "http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Good_Samaritan_law&action=edit" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Mac_PowerPC)"
 * 153.18.155.64 - - [08/Jan/2003:03:27:54 +0000] "POST /w/wiki.phtml?title=Good_Samaritan_law&action=submit HTTP/1.1" 200 12073 "http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Good_Samaritan_law&action=submit" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Mac_PowerPC)"

Is this you? (Connecting from a different machine if so.) These were both previews; I see no saves on this article. (A save would have resulted in a redirect, so a return code of '302' instead of '200'.) Either 'save' didn't get pushed, or some external factor prevented it from happening correctly (network error, your computer crashed, etc). --Brion 05:08 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

The website in the link doesn't seem to say that you'll get sued for giving aid. It simply advises tourists not to give aid, probably because it might be dangerous for them to attempt. The same would apply to anyone giving aid without the proper knowledge. The sentence just strikes me as silly; litigation may be a problem in the US, but this statement is unsupported and mean-spirited, IMO.--68.100.24.73 19:11, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * OK, no objections, I'm taking it out--68.100.24.73 21:17, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Isn't there another type of "Good Samaritan Law", where an onlooker can be punished for FAILING to give aid? That was the central plot of the final episode of Seinfeld. I know, it's just a TV show; but when I saw that I remembered hearing on the news that some places had enacted that sort of law. ShawnVW, 3/17/05

Reference to Seinfeld
I removed the following fragment from the article, still I thought it's at least worth keeping it at the discussion page:


 * This version of a Good Samaritan law was the subject of attention in the final episode of the Seinfeld television sitcom (which is set in New York City), where Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine were sentenced to a year in prison for failing to assist a carjacking victim. In fact, they videotaped the incident, for their humor, which was used as evidence against them in their trial. The video showed them laughing at the victim and calling him insulting names while the crime was taking place.
 * Thank you wikipedia, I had no idea this was real. OMG --68.9.193.246 00:27, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
 * It's fiction. But the remaining paragraph does not make a whole lot of sense and certainly does not throw any light on the good Samaritan law itself, criminal or civil or duty-to-rescue. 193.113.57.165 (talk) 10:03, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Removed Good Samaritan Law Report
''as this is still unreferenced, i removed it from the article. Some of it is redudant, other parts are unsubstantiated, but mostly it's unreferenced. Not to mention long. Text below. JamieJones talk 23:08, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

The Good Samaritan Law Report
''can't find the reference to this. Need reference or it will be removed!''

The Good Samaritan Laws have been established in many States, Alabama is just one of them. These laws were enacted to help to protect the doctors and nurses that help victims and patients from any liability or any civil damages from care that is given in an emergency situation. The definition or actual statement is: a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being successfully sued for 'wrongdoing.' Its purpose is to keep people from being so reluctant to help a stranger in need for fear of legal repercussions if they made some mistake in treatment. This Good Samaritan Law not only applies to doctors and nurses, but it also applies to other rescue people such as firefighters and police officers. A Good Samaritan Law protects any government official that helps to protect and provide for the people and citizens of both the country and this state. This law protects the majority of people that try to help, however, it does not protect everyone. In order for it to protect, the health care provider cannot be completely careless, they must try to help the person, not take their life. The person providing the help must have consent from the victim before giving and form of care, and the person who is providing the help must do it voluntarily. You are not protected completely by this law; you may still be able to be sued by a victim. The professional should not leave the patient unless another professional that is of equal or greater professionalism arrives to provide medical attention to the victim. “ Negligence and gross misconduct are not defensible.” It states: “ A person who, in good-faith renders emergency medical care or assistance to an injured person at the scene of an accident or other emergency without the expectation or receiving or intending to receive compensation from such injured person for such service, shall not be liable in civil damages for any act or omission, not constituting gross negligence, in the course of such care or assistance.” Federal and State Good Samaritan Laws exist to protect those who assist victims of an accident or crime and the victims themselves. This Good Samaritan Law is to help keep people from not wanting to help others in fear of being accused of “wrongdoing” or being sued for rescuing a “damsel in distress.” One of the readings of this law is the one provided to all states in general in Black’s Law- 7th edition. It states: 'A statute that exempts from liability a person (such as an off-duty physician) who voluntarily renders aid to another in imminent danger but negligently causes injury while rendering the aid. Some form of good-samaritan legislation has been enacted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.'

Differences?
It seems that there are two types of GS laws in this article - those that require a person provide some level of assistance, and those that merely protect people who voluntarily act.

The Ontario Good Samaritan Act (similar or identical to the one quoted) merely protects voluntary providers of first aid from liability. I think this is distinct from the "Seinfeld" type law which most or all of the intro of this article discusses - that people are obligated by law to assist (minimally, such as calling for help). I think the intro should be retooled to make this distinction. TheHYPO 16:13, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

removed image
I've removed the christian imagery from the top of the page. While I appreciate the relevant connection, I don't think it lends to the article except to unnecessarily emphasize a minor connection between a name given to the collective statutes and a bible story. The link to "Good Samaritan" is provided and I imagine that is sufficient. CheshireKatz 19:41, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

A "minor connection?" The Biblical parable is the origin, both linguistically and culturally, to the name and entire concept of "Good Samaritan." Try to find a dictionary or encyclopedic entry on the subject that does not reference this connection; in fact most give the exact reference where the story can be found. There's a reason these laws were given this name, and not called something like: "The Good-Doer Laws" or "Rescuers Laws." Hamil1528

US: which is it?
The intro and the "In the United States" section state that the US version(s) ARE to protect those who give aid, not to require people to give aid, with no exception mentioned... then the Seinfeld reference goes on to say how Massachusetts has a requirement. Is this wrong? Is Mass. the only exception? Are there more? It should be mentioned before the Seinfeld section either way I think. Msgohan 08:00, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Relation to Samaritans
I removed
 * While this traveller (a Samaritan) had no national, cultural, or religious affiliation to the injured man (in the story, assumed to be a Jew, with whom the Samaritans had had a long history of enmity), in compassion he aided the injured man, and did all in his power to ensure his welfare and recovery.

which is too detailed for this article (the HatNote lk should do the needed job), and botches the facts:
 * The religion of the Samaritan ethnic group involved having taken on what they understood to be the obligations of Jews, during the exile to Babylon, and many Jews of Gospel times regarded them not just pagans but effectively as having a heretical relationship to Judaism. I'm pretty sure there's a scriptural reference (epistles? Sermon on the Mount?) to not quibbling about whether to worship JHWH in the temple in Jerusalem or on the mountain in Samaritan country. In any case, the parable contrasts a Jew of Pharisee inclination (and someone else) with the Samaritan, implying that some self-proclaimed Jews didn't understand who the "neighbor" referred to by the Ten Commandments was, as well as did one Samaritan. "All in his power"? I think not, tho extremely generously. --Jerzy•t 21:26, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Nation-specific sub-sections
I have created an Ireland entry, under Europe. I've limited the text considerably, as there's potentially a lot to discuss here? (IANAL) Two discussion points: segurador (talk) 13:01, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The Irish Law Reform commission report is relevant, and potentially a good research starting point for all common law countries in this area.
 * How large / detailed should Nation-specific sub-section get. I have matched size of the other country's entries, approximately.

summary issues
First, the summary starts out with pointing out that good samaritan laws are not to be confused with duty to rescue. That's fine, but why then elaborate on a duty to rescue law in Argentina in the second paragraph instead of confining oneself to good samaritan law?

Second, the first paragraph starts out with stating that Good Samaritan laws offer legal protection. This assumes that the reader is familiar to the reason why good samaritans would need protection at all, which is a concept that people unfamiliar with compensation culture may not immediately understand. However, I expect this is not the case for many readers, in particular those residing in Europe. If this article is to be taken as a reliable source on the worldwide situation, the legal protection for good samaritans is only an issue in north America and China. I propose that this paragraph be altered to first explain why legal protection is needed. 2.243.114.236 (talk) 08:52, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

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Drug Overdose Prevention?
The article gives the impression that it needs to be another person, with no mention of themselves ("bystanders", "help a stranger"). Some (not all) locations allow someone like a drug user who believes to be overdosing to call 911 without facing prosecution.

I am not sure if this topic should be split into a different article? Pennsylvania’s Good Samaritan Act allows a person overdosing to call 911 without prosecution. Canada's Bill C-244 (42,1) would amend (not yet passed, but close) to  Controlled Drugs and Substances Act - since there is no country-wide GS law (it's handled per province). The "Short Title" for the act is "Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act". http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Bill=C224&Parl=42&Ses=1

I found a page on the web that talks about "911 Good Samaritan Fatal Overdose Prevention Law" .. but could not find a Wikipedia article. http://www.drugpolicy.org/911-good-samaritan-fatal-overdose-prevention-law

Fact sheet with list of 32 US states http://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Fact%20Sheet_State%20based%20Overdose%20Prevention%20Legislation%20%28January%202016%29.pdf

Here is a proposed amendment to the current Pennsylvania law. http://fox43.com/2017/04/25/proposed-bill-overdose-victims-must-seek-treatment-within-30-days-after-receiving-emergency-assistance-to-avoid-jail/

Should this be on Wikipedia? In this article? New article? 32 states have the law.. and we don't mention the self-Samaritan aspect in the article. --CoolCanuck eh? 04:30, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

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Additional Subtitles
Updated to include additional subtitles in the "Common Features" section to make the article easier to scan for key information.

2:22pm, 27 January 2018