Maine § 1721. - Prohibition on payment for health care facility mistakes or preventable adverse events

(1) Surgery performed on the wrong body part;  

(2) Surgery performed on the wrong patient;  

(3) The wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient;  

(4) Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or another procedure;  

(5) Intraoperative or immediately postoperative preventable death of a patient classified as a normal healthy patient under guidelines published by a national association of anesthesiologists;  

(6) Patient death or serious disability caused by the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics provided by a hospital or ambulatory surgical center;  

(7) Patient death or serious disability caused by the use or function of a device in patient care in which the device is used for functions other than as intended;  

(8) Patient death or serious disability caused by an intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(9) An infant's being discharged to the wrong person;  

(10) Patient death or serious disability caused by a patient's elopement for more than 4 hours;  

(11) Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(12) Patient death or serious disability caused by a medication error such as an error involving the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong time, wrong rate, wrong preparation or wrong route of administration;  

(13) Patient death or serious disability caused by a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of incompatible blood or blood products;  

(14) Maternal death or serious disability caused by labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy, labor and delivery while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(15) Patient death or serious disability caused by hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a health care facility;  

(16) Death or serious disability caused by failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia in neonates prior to discharge;  

(17) Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a health care facility;  

(18) Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy;  

(19) Patient death or serious disability caused by an electric shock while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(20) Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances;  

(21) Patient death or serious disability caused by a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(22) Patient death caused by a fall by a patient who was or should have been identified as requiring precautions due to risk of falling while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(23) Patient death or serious disability caused by the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a health care facility;  

(24) Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist or other licensed health care provider;  

(25) Abduction of a patient of any age;  

(26) Sexual assault of a patient within a health care facility;  

(27) Death or significant injury of a patient resulting from a physical assault that occurs within a health care facility; and  

(28) Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg.   [PL 2007, c. 605, §1 (NEW).]

2.  Prohibition.  A health care facility is prohibited from knowingly charging a patient or the patient's insurer or the patient's employer as defined in Title 39‑A, section 102, subsection 12 for health care services it provided as a result of or to correct a mistake or preventable adverse event caused by that health care facility.

3.  Patient education.  A health care facility is required to inform patients of the prohibition on payment for health care facility mistakes or preventable adverse events.