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Sharpe v. Worland3/21/2000
Appeal by defendants Worland, Greensboro Anesthesia Associates, P.A., and Wesley Long Community Hospital, Inc., from order entered 24 February 1998 by Judge William H. Freeman in Guilford County Superior Court. Originally heard in the Court of Appeals 4 January 1999.
This case is before us on remand from the North Carolina Supreme Court. Sharpe v. Worland, ___ N.C. ___, 522 S.E.2d 577 (1999).
Plaintiff filed this action alleging that she had been injured as a result of negligence on the part of David Eric Worland, M.D. ("Dr. Worland"); his employer, Greensboro Anesthesia Associates, P.A.; and Wesley Long Community Hospital, Inc. ("Hospital"). The action arises out of a surgical procedure which plaintiff underwent at defendant Hospital on 15 November 1993, during which Dr. Worland served as the anesthesiologist. Following the procedure, Dr. Worland administered an epidural for post-surgery pain management. Plaintiff alleges that Dr. Worland negligently administered the epidural, resulting in plaintiff's permanent loss of the use of her legs. She also alleges that defendant Hospital was negligent in allowing Dr. Worland to maintain staff membership privileges after it knew or should have known that Dr. Worland was not practicing medicine in accordance with the applicable standard of care.
During an October 1997 deposition, Dr. Worland acknowledged his past participation in the Physician's Health Program, a treatment program operated by the North Carolina Medical Society designed specifically to deal with, and provide treatment for, physician impairment, which, according to the PHP's amicus curiae brief, includes conditions such as substance abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, sexual misconduct, aging and similar difficulties. In December 1997, plaintiff noticed the deposition of defendant Hospital and requested production of various documents for inspection, including documents containing information about Dr. Worland's participation in the PHP. Defendant Hospital moved for a protective order on the ground that the documents sought by plaintiff regarding Dr. Worland's participation in the PHP are protected by the privilege set out in G.S. § 90-21.22 (1997). In an order entered 24 February 1998 Judge Freeman denied Community Hospital's motion for a protective order, required Community Hospital to produce all documents in its possession concerning Dr. Worland's participation in the PHP, and instructed plaintiff's attorney that all such documents be kept sealed from the public.
Defendants' appeal from the trial court's order was dismissed by this Court as interlocutory and not affecting a substantial right under G.S. §§ 1-277(a) and 7A-27(d)(1), Sharpe v. Worland, 132 N.C. App. 223, 511 S.E.2d 35 (1999). The Supreme Court reversed, holding that "when . . . a party asserts a statutory privilege which directly relates to the matter to be disclosed under an interlocutory discovery order, and the assertion of such privilege is not otherwise frivolous or insubstantial, the challenged order affects a substantial right." Sharpe v. Worland, ___ N.C. ___, ___, 522 S.E.2d 577, 581 (1999). The case was remanded to this Court for a determination on the merits of whether the documents sought for discovery are protected by statutory privilege.
The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether and to what extent the documents in the possession of defendant Hospital, pertaining to Dr. Worland's participation in the PHP, are privileged.
The discoverability of information regarding an individual's participation in a program for impaired physicians is governed by G.S. § 90-21.22 (1997). Of particular importance in the present case is G.S. § 90-21.22(e), which pr
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