L.A. v. New Jersey Division of Youth & Family Services

The question presented in this medical malpractice matter concerns the statutory standard to determine when reporting of suspected child abuse is required. A toddler was brought to a hospital’s emergency room for treatment of what was assessed as accidental cologne ingestion. The child was treated and released from the hospital’s emergency department to the care of her father the same evening. The emergency room physician did not report the matter as an incident of suspected child abuse. However, subsequent events in the life of this child resulted in findings that she was subjected to…