Brandon Regional Hosp. v. Murray

957 So. 2d 590, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 217, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 843, 2007 WL 1362903
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 10, 2007
DocketSC05-1864
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 957 So. 2d 590 (Brandon Regional Hosp. v. Murray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brandon Regional Hosp. v. Murray, 957 So. 2d 590, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 217, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 843, 2007 WL 1362903 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

957 So.2d 590 (2007)

BRANDON REGIONAL HOSPITAL, Petitioner,
v.
Maria MURRAY, et al., Respondents.

No. SC05-1864.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 10, 2007.

William Jeremiah Tolton, III, Randy J. Ogden, and J. Russell Smith of Ogden and Sullivan, P.A., Tampa, Florida, and Steven J Wisotsky of Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP, Miami, Florida, for Petitioner.

George A. Vaka of Vaka, Larson and Johnson, P.L., Tampa, Florida, Edwin P. Krieger, Tampa, Florida, Christopher J. Schulte and Thomas M. Hoeler of Burton, Schulte, Weekley, Hoeler, McLaughlin and Beytin, P.A., Tampa, Florida, for Respondents.

ANSTEAD, J.

Petitioner, Brandon Regional Hospital, seeks review of the decision in Brandon Regional Hospital v. Murray, 910 So.2d 880 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). We have jurisdiction based upon express and direct conflict with other district court decisions. See art. V § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. We approve the result of the district court decision below, and hold that a claimant in a medical malpractice case is entitled to discovery of the privileges granted to a physician by a hospital, but is not entitled to the actual records of the credentials committee within the hospital that may have been involved in the process of determining those privileges.

Proceedings to Date

Maria and Daniel Murray (the Murrays) instituted a medical malpractice action against Brandon Regional Hospital (Brandon) and others under chapter 766, Florida Statutes (2001). The Murrays allege that a physician on staff at Brandon, Dr. Wayne S. Blocker, was not properly credentialed by the hospital to perform the surgical procedures Mrs. Murray underwent *591 at Brandon. Mrs. Murray now alleges these procedures were negligently performed and resulted in her injuries. The Murrays seek to hold Brandon responsible for Mrs. Murray's injuries.

During discovery, the Murrays moved to compel Dr. Blocker to produce the list of privileges that he was granted through the hospital's credentialing process, which included consideration by Brandon's peer review credentials committee. Brandon and Dr. Blocker objected to production of the list, and Brandon sought a protective order under sections 395.0191 and 766.101, Florida Statutes (2001). The trial court denied the motion and ordered production of the list, finding that the list constituted a final report as described in Bayfront Medical Center, Inc. v. State Agency for Healthcare Administration, 741 So.2d 1226, 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), and was not entitled to the confidentiality protection provided by sections 766.101 and 395.0191, Florida Statutes (2001). Brandon challenged this order by a petition for certiorari review to the Second District. In its decision, while acknowledging conflict with other district court decisions, the Second District agreed with the trial court and denied relief. The opinion concluded:

The trial court found that the list is not protected from disclosure. We agree and deny the petition on the authority of Bayfront Medical Center, Inc. v. State Agency for Healthcare Administration, 741 So.2d 1226 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). But see Iglesias v. It's a Living, Inc., 782 So.2d 963 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); Columbia Park Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Gibbs, 728 So.2d 373 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Columbia Park Med. Ctr. v. Gibbs, 723 So.2d 294 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); Boca Raton Cmty. Hosp. v. Jones, 584 So.2d 220 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991).

Murray, 910 So.2d at 881. This Court subsequently granted review based on the Second District's decision being in express and direct conflict with other district court decisions, including those cited in the opinion.

ANALYSIS

This Court has acknowledged that the Legislature, as part of an effort to control the escalating costs of health care in the state, has enacted legislation to encourage self-regulation by the medical profession through peer review and evaluation. Holly v. Auld, 450 So.2d 217, 219-20 (Fla. 1984) (interpreting former section 768.40(4), the predecessor to section 766.101). As part of this scheme to encourage self-regulation the Legislature has also extensively provided for confidentiality of these peer review proceedings. The peer review statutes provide, in relevant part, that the investigations, proceedings, and records of a peer review committee are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil action against a provider of professional health services arising out of matters that are the subject of evaluation and review.[1] §§ 395.0191(8), 766.101(5), Fla. Stat. (2001). The issue before this Court is whether a list generated by a hospital, which includes a peer review committee recommendation delineating the privileges given to a member of a hospital staff, is protected from discovery under the confidentiality provisions of sections 395.0191 and 766.101, Florida Statutes.[2]

*592 The Court's interpretation of the history of these statutes thus far has been to err on the side of protecting the confidentiality of the peer review process. For example, in Cruger v. Love, 599 So.2d 111, 114 (Fla. 1992), we interpreted the language of the statutes to include not only documents or records produced by a peer review committee, but also documents considered by the committee as part of its decision-making process. Cruger specifically rejected the holding in Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Akers, 560 So.2d 1313 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), that physicians' applications and supporting documentation seeking hospital privileges were not included in the privilege from disclosure. Cruger, 599 So.2d at 114.

The district courts have followed our lead. In Iglesias v. It's a Living, Inc., 782 So.2d 963 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), the Third District, relying on our decision in Cruger, held that "[d]ocuments created or considered by a hospital peer review or credentialing committee are privileged." 782 So.2d at 964 (citing Dade County Med. Ass'n v. Hlis, 372 So.2d 117 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Cruger, 599 So.2d at 111). The Fifth District has also explicitly interpreted the confidentiality privilege in the peer review statutes to include a physician's application for privileges and the documents issued by the committee outlining those privileges. Columbia Park Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Gibbs, 728 So.2d 373 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (extending its ruling in Columbia Park Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Gibbs, 723 So.2d 294 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)). The Fourth District issued a similar holding in Boca Raton Community Hospital v. Jones, 584 So.2d 220 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). Hence, district court case law in Florida has uniformly denied discovery of documents created by a peer review committee in civil litigation under sections 766.101 and 395.0191, Florida Statutes.

SECOND DISTRICT

In Bayfront Medical, the Second District considered the issue of whether the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) was entitled to access certain peer review documents in the exercise of its regulatory duties. 741 So.2d at 1226. After quoting extensively from both the statutes outlining the regulatory scheme for AHCA and the statutes granting confidential status to the peer review process, the district court reversed in part a trial court order upholding the validity of an agency subpoena. Id. at 1227-29. The court held that the trial court erred in ordering production of the minutes of the hospital's department of surgery because those documents were protected by sections 395.0193(7) and 766.101(5), Fla. Stat. (1997). Id. at 1226.[3]

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Bluebook (online)
957 So. 2d 590, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 217, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 843, 2007 WL 1362903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brandon-regional-hosp-v-murray-fla-2007.