686D.6 Liability of health care providers.
1. A health care provider shall not be liable for civil damages for causing or contributing, directly or indirectly, to the death or injury of an individual as a result of the health care provider’s acts or omissions while providing or arranging health care in support of the state’s response to COVID-19. This subsection shall apply to all of the following:
a. Injury or death resulting from screening, assessing, diagnosing, caring for, or treating individuals with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
b. Prescribing, administering, or dispensing a pharmaceutical for off-label use to treat a patient with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
c. Acts or omissions while providing health care to individuals unrelated to COVID-19 when those acts or omissions support the state’s response to COVID-19, including any of the following:
(1) Delaying or canceling nonurgent or elective dental, medical, or surgical procedures, or altering the diagnosis or treatment of an individual in response to any federal or state statute, regulation, order, or public health guidance.
(2) Diagnosing or treating patients outside the normal scope of the health care provider’s license or practice.
(3) Using medical devices, equipment, or supplies outside of their normal use for the provision of health care, including using or modifying medical devices, equipment, or supplies for an unapproved use.
(4) Conducting tests or providing treatment to any individual outside the premises of a health care facility.
(5) Acts or omissions undertaken by a health care provider because of a lack of staffing, facilities, medical devices, equipment, supplies, or other resources attributable to COVID-19 that renders the health care provider unable to provide the level or manner of care to any person that otherwise would have been required in the absence of COVID-19.
(6) Acts or omissions undertaken by a health care provider relating to use or nonuse of personal protective equipment.
2. This section shall not relieve any person of liability for civil damages for any act or omission which constitutes recklessness or willful misconduct.
2020 Acts, ch 1070, §8, 11
Section applies retroactively to January 1, 2020; 2020 Acts, ch 1070, §11
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