{"data":{"id":"us-me/22-m.r.s.-1721","jurisdiction":"us-me","citation":"22 M.R.S. §1721","heading":"Prohibition on payment for health care facility mistakes or preventable adverse events","body":"1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.\nA.  \"Health care facility\" means a hospital or ambulatory surgical center licensed under chapter 405.\nB.  \"Mistake or preventable adverse event\" means any of the following events that is within the health care facility's control to avoid:\n(1)  Surgery performed on the wrong body part;\n(2)  Surgery performed on the wrong patient;\n(3)  The wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient;\n(4)  Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or another procedure;\n(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;\n(6)  Patient death or serious disability caused by the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics provided by a hospital or ambulatory surgical center;\n(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;\n(8)  Patient death or serious disability caused by an intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a health care facility;\n(9)  An infant's being discharged to the wrong person;\n(10)  Patient death or serious disability caused by a patient's elopement for more than 4 hours;\n(11)  Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability while being cared for in a health care facility;\n(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;\n(13)  Patient death or serious disability caused by a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of incompatible blood or blood products;\n(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;\n(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;\n(16)  Death or serious disability caused by failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia in neonates prior to discharge;\n(17)  Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a health care facility;\n(18)  Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy;\n(19)  Patient death or serious disability caused by an electric shock while being cared for in a health care facility;\n(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;\n(21)  Patient death or serious disability caused by a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a health care facility;\n(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;\n(23)  Patient death or serious disability caused by the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a health care facility;\n(24)  Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist or other licensed health care provider;\n(25)  Abduction of a patient of any age;\n(26)  Sexual assault of a patient within a health care facility;\n(27)  Death or significant injury of a patient resulting from a physical assault that occurs within a health care facility; and\n(28)  Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg.\n2.  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.\n3.  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.\nRevisor's Note: §1721.  Voluntary restraint (As enacted by PL 2007, c. 629, Pt. C, §1 is REALLOCATED TO TITLE 22, SECTION 1722)","path":["TITLE 22: HEALTH AND WELFARE","SUBTITLE 2: HEALTH","PART 4: HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL CARE","CHAPTER 401: GENERAL PROVISIONS"],"source_url":"https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/22/title22sec1721.html","current_through":"January 1, 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-04T15:12:31Z","sha256":"f69dfa6a419be0284173c52463ee66eba50886c9735869d920f23fc714282034","source_id":"us-me","stale":false,"prev":"us-me/22-m.r.s.-1720","next":"us-me/22-m.r.s.-1722"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}