Libby Zion case and the campaign to limit resident work hours
Also: Libby Zion Law · New York 405 regulations · Bell regulations
After 18-year-old Libby Zion died in a New York hospital in 1984, her father, journalist Sidney Zion, campaigned publicly against overworked, poorly supervised junior doctors. A grand jury and the state's Bell Commission followed, and in 1989 New York became the first state to cap residents' hours at 80 a week and 24 in a row; national accreditation rules followed in 2003.
- Years
- 1984–1989
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- Health workforcePatient safetySleep
- Asks people to
- Support a policy
- Strategy
- Policy pairedTestimonial
- Channel
- PrintTV
- Audience
- General publicNew York legislators and health officials, hospitals, the public
Evidence
ProcessUnknown
New York adopted the Bell Commission limits (Section 405) in 1989 and the ACGME set national limits in 2003. Whether fatigue contributed to Zion's death was disputed; a drug interaction was the medical cause.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Sidney Zion (family advocacy) NGO, advocate
- New York State Department of Health (Bell Commission) State local government, regulator
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Related campaigns
Sources
Research notes
Created 2026-10-24 by an AI research pass for #103 (G2); not reviewed by a person. Built from Wikipedia and search snippets; Bell's own article was not opened. To verify: death March 1984; grand jury 1986-87; regulation adopted 1989; 80 hours/week and 24 consecutive hours; ACGME limits July 2003.
Record cases/libby-zion-resident-work-hours.json, updated 2026-10-24· Link to this campaign