I figured this must have been brought up by now, so apologies for the repeat.
When the police obtain a warrant for a blood draw, it means the patient's right of refusal no longer matters and he must submit to the blood draw, by force if necessary.
The warrant does NOT affect the rights of nurse or doctor to refuse to draw the blood if they feel it's unsafe, medically irrelevant, or unethical. The police may get their own phlebotomist to do the job, but they have no authority to compel an unwilling healthcare provider perform to perform a law enforcement action. The patient's objection may not matter legally, but it can matter to you personally, and you can always say no if an absolute serum ethanol level isn't essential for good medical care.
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Whit F. - May 13, 2019 11:41 AM
I figured this must have been brought up by now, so apologies for the repeat.
When the police obtain a warrant for a blood draw, it means the patient's right of refusal no longer matters and he must submit to the blood draw, by force if necessary.
The warrant does NOT affect the rights of nurse or doctor to refuse to draw the blood if they feel it's unsafe, medically irrelevant, or unethical. The police may get their own phlebotomist to do the job, but they have no authority to compel an unwilling healthcare provider perform to perform a law enforcement action. The patient's objection may not matter legally, but it can matter to you personally, and you can always say no if an absolute serum ethanol level isn't essential for good medical care.