 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
McCluskey v. Krothapalli2/18/2000
be asked about any opinions or data given by him in preparation, evaluation, or review of accreditation, quality assurance or similar materials."
Accordingly, § 22-21-8 does not protect information if it is obtained from alternative sources. Hence, a plaintiff seeking discovery cannot obtain directly from a hospital review committee documents that are available from the original source, but may seek such documents from the original source. Therefore, the trial court erred in ordering that these documents from the two hospitals be turned over to the plaintiff.
We conclude that the documents at issue in this case are privileged, under Alabama's peer-review statute, § 22-21-8, Ala. Code 1975. The petition for the writ of mandamus is granted. The trial judge is directed to vacate her orders dated April 6, 1999, and May 17, 1999, and to enter an order quashing the subpoenas to Baptist Medical Center and Columbia Regional Medical Center.
WRIT GRANTED.
Houston, Cook, See, Lyons, Brown, and England, JJ., concur.
Johnstone, J., dissents.
JOHNSTONE, Justice (dissenting).
The petitioner relies exclusively on the affidavit of Drenda Percival for his factual showing that the materials in the file are privileged. Percival's only description of the file or its contents is that the file
"was the medical staff credentials file regarding the hospitals credentialing of Dr. Radha Krothapalli and the nature and scope of his privileges to practice medicine at Baptist Medical Center South. Baptist considers the contents of the file to be confidential pursuant to Section 22-21-8 of the Code of Alabama, 1975."
First, the utterly conclusory claims of "credentials" and "credentialing" do not constitute any factual showing at all and therefore do not support or justify our undertaking our own in camera review of these documents or our issuing a writ of mandamus. Second, "the nature and scope of [Dr. Krothapalli's] privileges to practice medicine at Baptist Medical Center South" cannot be a secret at all, much less a privileged secret.
Page 1 2 3 Alabama Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|