![]() |
Legal News Judge Emphasizes Confidentiality Provision in Peer Review Protection ActA Court of Common Pleas judge in The underlying case involved a surgery that resulted in the patient losing his left kidney. Following the hospital’s internal investigation, its chief medical quality officer met with the plaintiffs to discuss the review committee’s opinion as to what transpired during the patient’s operation. Once the suit began, Plaintiffs noticed the officer’s deposition, and the hospital responded with a motion for protective order in which it argued that the plaintiffs should be prevented from asking about the hospital’s internal review proceedings. Plaintiffs in turn contended that the chief medical quality officer’s meeting with the plaintiffs waived the Act’s confidentiality provision and thus rendered the review materials and discussions discoverable. Judge Zulick found otherwise. Judge Zulick relied on the Superior Court’s ruling in Dodson v. DeLeo, 872 A.2d 1237 (Pa. Super. As the Dodson court described, the Peer Review Protection Act was promulgated in 1974 to “facilitate comprehensive, honest, and potentially critical evaluations of medical professionals by their peers.” In the matter before Judge Zulick, he found that the facts before him paralleled those in Dodson. Accordingly, he held that allowing discovery of the hospital’s entire peer-review materials would undermine the Act’s intentions of safeguarding health care professionals’ ability to police themselves and conduct root cause analyses, morbidity and mortality meetings, and other confidential investigations in order to promote patient safety. Notwithstanding that finding, the plaintiffs were free to question the chief medical quality officer about his statements to them concerning the review’s determination. |
Hickory Pointe 2250 Hickory Rd, Suite 300 Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 Phone: (610) 834-8800 Fax: (610) 834-1749 info@obrlaw.com |