Wideman v. Shallowford Community Hospital, Inc.

HILL, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the novel question of whether a county government’s alleged practice of using its emergency medical *1031vehicles only to transport patients to certain county hospitals which guarantee the payment of the county’s medical bills violates a right protected by the federal constitution. We hold that such a practice, even if proved, would not violate any established constitutional right; therefore, the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

I. BACKGROUND

The facts underlying this case are undeniably tragic. On April 12, 1984, Toni Wideman,…