Crisis standards of care, the possibility of rationing scarce resources, and constraints placed on care activities usually provided as standard of care, have raised concerns about the potential liability of health care providers working during this pandemic. Health care workers, in turn, have called for immunity from civil and criminal liability when they act in good faith, and according to available guidelines, in crisis circumstances. Further, some health care workers who have spoken out to the media about the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been threatened with retaliation by their employers. Can they sue institutions for this actual or threatened retaliation? Could institutions be liable to their employees (for negligence if their employees acquire COVID-19 because of a failure to provide the PPE) or to patients who believe they acquired the virus because their caregivers lacked PPE?

**Instructions to access the recording will be provided after you register.**

Target Audience
This presentation is appropriate for public health and clinical professionals, attorneys, researchers, students, and others interested in learning more about pandemic preparedness.

Facilitator
Elizabeth Van Nostrand, JD
Instructor
Diane E. Hoffman, JD, MS is the Jacob A. France Professor of Health Law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law and Director of the law school’s Law & Health Care Program. She received her law degree from Harvard Law School and her Master's degree from Harvard School of Public Health. She was one of the primary authors of Maryland’s Health Care Decisions Act, which establishes standards and procedures for making medical decisions for individuals at the end of life who lack decision-making capacity. She has served as a member of a number of ethics committees including those at the University of Maryland Medical System and the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health. She is the founder and director of the Maryland Healthcare Ethics Committee Network, a membership organization that provides educational resources and consultation services to ethics committees at health care facilities in Maryland. From June 1994–May 1995, Hoffmann was the Acting Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Aging reporting to U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. From 2008–2014 she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics and as President of the Board in 2010 and 2011. She is currently a member of the Maryland Stem Cell Commission, the Composite Committee of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Medical Regulation. Hoffmann has published numerous articles on health law and policy issues in legal journals as well as scientific and medical journals including Science, JAMA, the NEJM, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Technology Requirements
This recorded webinar is presented through the Vimeo Internet-based platform. A computer with high-speed internet connection and the ability to download and run this platform is required.

Creation Date: This training was recorded May 26, 2020.

For more information about this course or for assistance with registration, contact marphtc@pitt.edu.