• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Using peer review committee findings to defend a lawsuit

Compliance Monitor, March 24, 2006

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!

Q: At a recent departmental meeting, we were presented with a risk management scenario in which a hypothetical hospital and physician, who were parties to a malpractice lawsuit,were unable to use favorable peer review committee findings as evidence in court. Why can't physicians use peer review committee findings to aid in their defense of a lawsuit?

A:

The question you raise regarding "peer review privilege" is a timely one. Recently, courts have enforced federal and state statutes barring the use of any peer review committee findings, whether favorable or unfavorable, as evidence in court. Federal peer review protection was established for the first time under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986. The federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 will permit a federal court, under certain circumstances, to interpret peer review committee findings as "patient safety work products" that are exempt from subpoena, discovery, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure or as evidence in federal, state, local courts or professional disciplinary bodies.

State courts' enforcement of peer review privilege depends largely on the respective state peer review statute and case law. The scenario from the risk management presentation likely originates from a recent Connecticut case where a judge strictly interpreted the state's peer review statute to bar discovery of peer review committee findings and upheld the state's policy to protect the sanctity of the peer review process (Holley v. Norwalk Hospital Association, Conn. Super. Ct. No. CV-04-4017092-S, 1/19/06). This opinion recognizes that peer review protection creates an incentive to fully report medical errors and to share quality of care data among physicians on the hospital staff. Courts in other states may interpret their state's laws differently.

Since the peer review privilege issue varies from state to state, you should direct your questions to appropriate counsel.

Thanks to Anjali Kharod, Esq., an associate with the law firm Saul Ewing LLP, for answering this question.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive