Rhode Island § 9-3-4 - Liens Against Causes of Action

§ 9-3-4. Hospital lien on claim for personal injuries.

Every association, corporation, or other institution, including a municipal corporation, maintaining a hospital in the state, which shall furnish medical or other service to any patient injured by reason of an accident not covered by the workers’ compensation act, shall, if the injured party shall assert or maintain a claim against another for damages on account of the injuries, have a lien upon that part going or belonging to the patient, of any recovery or sum had or collected or to be collected by the patient, or by his or her heirs or personal representatives in the case of his or her death, whether by judgment or by settlement or compromise, to the amount of the reasonable and necessary charges of the hospital up to the date of payment of the damages; provided, however, that the lien herein set forth shall not be applied or considered valid against anyone coming under the workers’ compensation act in this state; and, provided, further, that nothing herein enacted shall be so construed as to give the lien herein created precedence over the lien of an attorney.