The case of Wood v. Archbold Medical Center Inc., presents an interesting twist regarding HCQIA immunity. The holding basically provides that “professional review activity” is a lesser level of adverse activity and need not meet the due process standards of HCQIA in order for a hospital to retain HCQIA.
In Dr. Wood’s situation, there were…
Physician credentialing disputes often involve and may depend upon proof of “unequal treatment.” These situations arise when hospitals allege certain substandard performance or conduct by physicians, but the physician’s defense is that they are no different than anyone of the physicians, that the issues are common and that they are being discriminated against. In order to prove…
Fox v. Good Samaritan presents two interesting variations on issues commonly raised in peer review cases. The case originated 10 years ago and arises out of the suspension of Dr. Fox after he refused to designate a coverage physician with clinical privileges equal to his own. When Good Samaritan Hospital suspended his clinical privileges, following medical staff…
In KD v. United States, a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, both granting and denying a motion for a protective order in parts, indicates that PSQIA of 2005 has changed its opinion regarding the protection of peer review documents under federal common law privilege.
The opinion notes…
In Ramamurthy v. JFK Medical Center and Solaris Health System the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed a summary judgment dismissing Dr. Ramamurthy’s Petition for Injunctive Relief, which sought a court order prohibiting a suspension imposed by the hospital. Dr. Ramamurthy had argued at the trial court level that the hospital had…
The Montana Supreme Court held in John Doe, M.D. v. Community Medical Center that the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) does not preempt state law regarding injunction and breach of contract, thereby allowing the lower court to issue an injunction against Community Medical Center prohibiting it from issuing a Data Bank report regarding the…
In Feller v. Miriam Hospital, the Rhode Island Superior Court provides additional guidance regarding immunity protection pursuant to the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA).
In that case, Dr. Joseph Feller was practicing at Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island. He encountered some disciplinary issues in 2002 and agreed to both monitoring by a hospital appointed…
In Isaiah v. WMHS Braddock Hospital Corporation and Memorial Hospital and Medical Center of Cumberland, the Fourth Circuit affirmed an order granting summary judgment against Dr. Isaiah in favor of WMHS Braddock Hospital on the basis that summary judgment was appropriate under both HCQIA and the Maryland statutes providing immunity for peer review activity…
Is there a duty for a hospital to answer a credentialing inquiry from another institution? A hospital’s refusal to answer an inquiry presumably has the same impact as an employer’s refusal to answer a request for references: when the inquiring party receives no response, they presume, and usually rightly so, that the party to whom…
In Hussein vs. Duncan Regional Hospital, United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) to Duncan Regional Hospital because it terminated a physician’s privileges and reported him to the National Practitioners Data Bank (NPDB) without providing notice or an opportunity to be…
