The memorable lesson of Sternberg v. Nanticoke Memorial Hospital is that the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a grant of summary judgment to the hospital on the basis of immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA), despite:
· The physician was admittedly a competent orthopaedic surgeon; and
· There had been no…
Defining and disciplining disruptive physicians has been a difficult problem for hospital administration and the medical staff for quite some time now, long enough for the Joint Commission to actually require leadership standard LD.3.10 beginning in 2009. Medical staffs have frequently been torn between protecting their members, who are frequently high performing physicians, while maintaining appropriate…
The Mississippi State Appeals Court affirmed a summary judgment decision by a Mississippi State Court in the case of C. Jake Lambert, Jr. M.D. v. Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi, Inc. and Baptist Memorial Health Services, Inc. Dr. Lambert was a medical staff member of Baptist Memorial Hospital (Hospital) and an employee of Baptist Memorial…
In Sabharwal v. Mount Sinai Medical Center, Queens Hospital Center, and Won Chee, the plaintiff alleged employment discrimination in that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and unlawful discrimination by not being reappointed as the Assistant Director of Anesthesia on account of age, sex and disability. The plaintiff requested production of certain records…
Schueller v. Goddard is a fairly typical hospital staffing scenario. Dr. Schueller was an independent contractor with an emergency services group, which in turn had an exclusive service contract with Drew Memorial Hospital in Arkansas. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment by the District Court in favor of the hospital…
http://op.bna.com/hl.nsf/id/mapi-8djmlg/$File/lawnwood.pdf…
Continue Reading Florida Peer Review Statute
In Leitgen v. Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Inc., 7th Cir. appeals court confirms summary judgment by the district court denying Dr. Leitgen’s claim of discriminatory pay practices.The physicians at Franciscan Skemp Healthcare were paid a salary plus a bonus. The bonus for professional fees for obstetrical delivery services were collected and paid to the participating…
Two recent malpractice cases indicate the distinction between ordinary risk management processes and peer review issues. In Johnson v. Detroit Medical Center, a Michigan state court held that a physician’s credentialing file was protected by the confidentiality provisions of Michigan’s Peer Review Confidentiality Statute, and also protected the physician’s operative logs because the doctor/patient privilege…
Ray v. Pinnacle Health Hospitals, Inc. is an interesting physician discrimination case, not because it presents new concepts, but more so because of the use of the hospital’s quality assurance data in the discovery and summary judgment process.
The Third Circuit is merely affirming the grant of summary judgment by the United States District…
Ellison v. Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, a malpractice case brought in the Western District of Pennsylvania against hospitals in Buffalo and Pennsylvania, is a case in which the parents of the plaintiff were seeking production of “a nurse’s handwritten notice relating to the medical care and treatment provided to a minor while…
